


Star Crossed

by The_Nicest_Nonbinary



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Branding, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Rape/Non-con, Slow Burn, Slut Shaming, Temporary Character Death, Torture, Victim Blaming, adding the rape/non con tag cause of Kitty's backstory, did I mention this was slow burn?, i live in the pnw where the coast is constantly freezing no matter what time of the year it is, if not uh...., its slow burn, most of this was written at 2am, no beta reader we die like men, so thats where these characters get to live too, this time Cathy and Anne get to be the cutesy domestic couple
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:48:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 19
Words: 77,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25179463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Nicest_Nonbinary/pseuds/The_Nicest_Nonbinary
Summary: Catherine is just trying to get by in the aftermath of the War of the End. She didn't ask to be the leader of one of the last living group of humans. She didn't ask for the aliens to invade and take her hostage. She didn't ask for the alien queen to threaten to take over her home. And she DEFINITELY didn't ask for the queen of the aliens, Jane, to be so gorgeous. What's a girl supposed to do?
Relationships: Anne Boleyn/Catherine Parr, Anne of Cleves/Katherine Howard, Catherine of Aragon/Jane Seymour, Jane Seymour/Henry the 8th
Comments: 179
Kudos: 160





	1. Strange Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> So this was inspired by a prompt from tumblr given by @theatergirl06. I asked for an aramour enemies to lovers Au, then proceeded to get way too invested in it haha. Any way, I hope you enjoy!

Catherine wiped the sweat off her brow and rolled her neck. She looked out at the green hills and smiled. From her vantage point on top of the cliff she stood on, she could see the whole village. The small ramshackle houses didn’t look like much, but to Lina and a few other survivors, it was home. She made her way down towards it, dragging the bundle of firewood she’d collected behind her. The war had taken a lot from them, destroying any semblance of normality for everyone, but they’d managed to pull through.

The War of the End as it was being called had torn the world in pieces. Catherine thought about how it had all started, something she tended to do a lot of lately. It had started when the largest companies had developed commercial space travel. Plans to abandon the Earth were discussed in more concrete terms. Instead of “If” and “Maybe”, it was, “When” and “How soon.”. Those who weren’t lucky enough to have the money to purchase a ticket would be left behind on a dying planet. Panic had torn through the countries and people everywhere started revolting against those who had the ability to get away. Governments who had planned on just rescuing themselves and abandoning their people had panicked as they realized the normal people would destroy them and started bribing people to fight for them with the promise of a ticket off the dying Earth. The resulting war had wiped out most of the world, plunging humanity back to the paper age. The Earth had started healing and small groups of people, like the group Lina now led, were learning from their mistakes and working together to survive.  
Catherine surveyed the small village with pride as she reached it. It had taken them years to band together, but they now had their own way of life. It was a coast side village, bordered by the sea on one side, and dense forest on the other. If you walked a day to the east, you could come across fertile farmland. Some of Lina’s group had branched off and settled there. Occasionally, people from both branches would travel between the two settlements and trade materials back and forth. Catherine made her way to one of the familiar huts and knocked on the door, still carrying her bundle of firewood. The door opened, and a man stepped out. “Ah! Catherine! To what do I owe the pleasure?” Catherine smiled. Hendrick, as the man was called, hadn’t lived with them long, but he had easily made himself popular with the village. He had dark red hair that he usually tied into a short ponytail at the back which was currently hanging down around his shoulders in a mess.

Catherine swung the bundle of firewood around and parceled out some to him. “I saw you were running low. Thought you might need some more for the upcoming cold snap.”

Hendrick smiled. “Bless your heart. You’re too kind. Winter is coming soon, I guess we’d better prepare.” The two laughed, a cold humor behind it. On the coast, the seasons never quite seemed to change much. On one hand, that meant no hard winters, but on the other, it meant no summers. Hendrick took the bundle into his hut and rummaged around in one of his trunks. Lina glanced around the interior and smiled softly to herself. Hendrick liked to walk along the beach and collect pieces of seaglass. He then liked to drill small holes into them and string them across the walls of his hut. Some of the other huts had seaglass strings Hendrick had gifted them. Eventually he came back out with a small package. Handing it to Catherine, he said, “I thought you might like this, I found it along the beach.” Lina unfolded the checkered cloth and gasped as a honey colored piece of sea glass winked up at her. It was encased inside a silver locket and strung on a simple chain

“Oh, you can’t. You should keep this.” She protested.

Hendrick waved his hand dismissively. “Keep it. You take care of us, let us do something nice for you for once.” Catherine thanked him, then turned to leave. “Wait, one more thing.” Hendrick called. Lina turned back towards him, frowning, “You might want to check out the cove on the beach. I thought I saw something there, something alive, but I didn’t want to investigate in case it was dangerous.”

Catherine nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll check it out after I finish handing out the firewood. There should still be some daylight.” Hendrick smiled and headed back into his house. As Catherine made her rounds, she wondered what the mysterious thing Hendrick had seen was. She knew he was someone who didn’t scare easily, so if he didn’t want to mess with it, she wondered if she’d want to either. Lina dropped the last bundle of firewood off at her own house and started down the well trod path towards the beach. She hefted the axe she always carried over her shoulder and hummed to herself. She’d only lived here since after the war started, but it had already cemented itself as her home. She’d fled to the coast as the war started, then never got a chance to leave. As Catherine walked along the beach, she passed the limits of the village. A piece of broken wood that marked the limits displayed the name of the village, “Ter Cres”. Logically, Lina knew that it was probably just a broken sign that once held the true name of the broken city, but the nickname had stuck, so Ter Cres it was.  
As she walked down the packed sand, she came to the cove Hendrick had mentioned. Cautiously, she pushed aside the low hanging vines, and peeked into the small space. It took Catherine’s eyes a second to adjust to the dim light, but when they did, that was when she saw it. No, not it. Them. A girl was curled up on her side, hugging her knees to her chest and crying softly. She looked to be 19, maybe 20. Lina inhaled sharply as she saw the state the girl was in. Her hair was matted and tangled, with small twigs sticking out of it. The pink dye at the tips was fading and was in desperate need of a touch up. She wore a bright red hoodie and black leggings. The leggings had been torn to shreds, not by thorns, but by human hands. Lina could see it. She knelt down next to the scared girl and waited to be noticed. The girl saw her and sat up. She blinked tiredly, then asked, “Have you come to take me back?” She sounded so quiet and defeated, Catherine almost cried.

“Back to who sweetheart?” Catherine asked, voice soft so as not to startle her.

The girl shrugged. “Y’know. The Hills colony.” Catherine blinked. The Hills colony was a rival group who preferred to steal from her people rather than try and create for themselves.

“That’s a 36 hour hike sweetheart, did you run all that way without rest?” The girl looked up, miserable, and Lina had her answer. “Do you wanna come home with me? To my people?”

The girl looked up, hope sparking in her dead eyes, then it disappeared almost as rapidly as it appeared. “What do you want from me?” she asked, burying her face in her arms.

Lina was taken aback by the question, then simply replied, “Nothing. I don’t want anything from you. I just want you to be safe.” Lina couldn’t explain it. Couldn’t explain why she felt a connection to this scrawny girl. She just did.

The girl looked up at her, then softly whispered, “C-can I really come home with you?” she whispered the word home like a desperate wish, and it broke Lina’s heart.

“Of course. Can I hold you?” the girl hesitated, then nodded and Catherine scooped her up in her arms. She had the girl hold her axe as the pair walked back to Ter Cres. “What’s your name sweetheart?” Catherine asked. The girl shrugged, then buried her face into Catherine’s shoulder. Catherine smiled. “That’s okay. For now, we can call you...” she noticed the decal on the girl’s hoodie for the first time, and spoke again, “Kit Kat. Kit for short. At least until we find out what your real name is.” The newly named Kit smiled softly and nodded. Catherine’s heart swelled and she hugged the girl close to her chest as they walked home.  
The woman drummed her fingers on the armrest of her chair. It was more accurate to call it a throne, as that was what it looked like. She turned to the woman at her elbow and snarled, “Do we have the coordinates?” the woman at her side nodded, then turned to her companion and rattled off the series of numbers and letters that would lead to their destination. Her companion blew a few loose curly strands of hair out of her eyes and typed the characters into a computer before looking back to the woman on the throne. She nodded and the woman on the throne nodded back. Brushing her blonde hair out of her face, she removed a silver locket from under her armor and clicked it open. The locket clicked and whirred, then a hologram of a smiling family in a glowing green hovered above the face of the locket. The blonde woman smiled to herself. “Soon my love.” she whispered, then snapped the locket shut. “Well? What are we waiting for?” the other two women in the control room nodded, then the one at the computer pressed a few buttons and the spaceship began to veer through the stars towards their chosen destination. The woman at the blonde’s side looked up at her, space buns coming slightly loose from hours of running around the ship preparing for their departure. “All systems go ma’am. Next stop, Earth.”


	2. A Call from Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane has a little...chat with someone. Cathy and Anne have a moment. Lina brings a broken girl home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, two updates on the same day? I'm pretty inspired so there might be a lot of chapters in rapid succession today. Anyway enjoy some pointless fluff with the newlyweds, some Jane angst, and some Catherine taking care of Kitty. Also don't worry Anna will be in the story soon. I have plans for her.

Jane lounged in her throne, humming quietly to herself. Fiddling with the silver locket around her neck, she turned to Anne. “How much longer?” She barked.

Anne frowned, then checked one of the screens at her side.“Only 22 hours ma’am.” Jane sighed. She stood and crossed to exit the control room, then checked one of the shining silver metal panels at the door for her reflection. She had to look impeccable. Show no weakness, the first rule of the Rashadi. She smoothed her hair back and around the curved horns just at the top of her forehead. One of her hands lingered on the shattered tip of the left one, but she simply reached into one of her pockets, pulled out a small golden cuff with a fake horn attached to it, and placed over the broken horn. The fake horn was made on a material that looked like ice, probably because it was. It had come from one of the many planets Jane had conquered, a perpetually frozen ice planet. Jane shuddered just thinking about it. The Rashadi hated extreme temperatures, so the ice planet mission had been hell. But she’d gotten a pretty cool trophy out of it.

Jane focused on schooling her face into a neutral expression. Letting her pupils contract back to their normal slits, she smiled, satisfied. Jane strode out of the control room, letting her long tail lash behind her.  
Anne watched her leave, then as soon as the doors were closed behind her, she quickly walked over to the Rashadi at the computers. Tucking her chin onto the other Rashadi’s shoulder, she smiled and whispered, “Hey you.”

Cathy chuckled and nuzzled her wife’s cheek. “Hey.” The pair of them had been dragged along on the mission only two days after their wedding. They weren’t complaining though. Complaining would show weakness.

Anne removed her chin from her wife's shoulder and stood next to her. Taking Cathy’s hand, she laced their fingers and traced her thumb over the back of Cathy’s palm. “Not quite the honeymoon you imagined, huh?”

Cathy shook her head, looking out at the stars, she replied, “No, but I have you now. And that’s what counts.”

“Aww babes that’s so sweet.” Cathy shoved Anne to the side, laughing. Anne cackled, the jewelry that dangled from her curling ram horns jangling merrily. Cathy took a moment to appreciate the single plain silver band that wrapped around the base of Anne’s right horn. She knew she had a matching one around the base of her slightly nubbed horns, but it still made her smile to see it. Anne took Cathy’s hand once again and the two looked out at the stars together. It was going to be a long journey.

  
Jane strode down the long hallway, feet automatically taking her where she wanted to go. She let her mind wander as she walked, hands clasped behind her back. She didn’t know much about Earth, only knowing that it had once been a thriving planet, then mysteriously shut down. The how didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was that now Earth was defenseless and ripe for the harvesting. The Rashadi’s homeworld was an unforgiving place, so they relied on the resources of other planets to survive. Eventually they stopped asking nicely, and started taking what they wanted. It was all survival. Survival first, show no weakness. The Rashadi mantra. Jane reflexively tightened her shoulders as she thought about the mantra, but pushed it out of her mind. She had more important things to think about than the ghosts of the past. Jane turned a corner and pushed open the door to the hologram center. A Rashadi by the name of Caius scrambled up and snapped to attention. “At ease.” she growled. He saluted, then sat back down. She snapped her fingers at him and he looked up nervously. “I need to speak to his Imperial Majesty.”

“A-at once ma'am.” He stuttered. After pushing some buttons, the room went dark and Caius back out of the hologram room. Jane let her face relax slightly as the figure of Henry filled the room, displayed in the same glowing green of the locket. “Henry, it’s good to see you love. How’s Homeworld?”

Henry frowned, tail lashing impatiently. “No time for pleasantries. How is the mission coming along?” Jane sighed. Henry never had time for pleasantries. Not anymore.

She snapped to attention and said, “It’s going well your Majesty. We will arrive at Earth in 22 hours. Harvesting will begin as soon as we get the local population to submit.”

Henry grinned wolfishly. “Excellent. Make sure there are no hiccups in this mission.”

Jane nodded, then after a moment of courage, “Henry, dearest, will you leave the gift on my dresser at Edward’s-”

“Edward is dead.” Henry barked coldly. “We have no need of the past. Survival first, show no weakness.” He eyed her coldly, “Or have you forgotten that so quickly my queen?”

Jane looked up, fear flashing in her grey eyes. Her pointed ears twitched, a dead giveaway of her nerves. “N-no! I haven’t. Your will is law. Survival first, show no weakness.”

Henry smiled. “Good. I leave this mission in your capable hands."

His image disappeared just as Jane called out, “I love you dearest.” But he was gone, and once again Jane was speaking to an empty room. She allowed herself a moment to breathe, then once again schooled her expression into one of neutrality. As she left, she swore to herself that this time it would be different. She’d make him proud of her. This time, surely he would stay to say it back.  
Catherine straggled up the hill just as the sky was darkening. The young girl in her arms shivered and hiccuped. Some of the other people poked their heads out of their homes to watch Lina carry the broken girl. As she passed him, Hendrick walked up to her. “It was a girl.” Lina whispered sadly.

Hendrick’s eyes grew sad, “I thought she was a wild animal. I’m sorry.” Lina smiled quietly, “Its not your fault. I understand that it's hard to see into that cove.” Hendrick nodded and watched the pair leave. Lina eventually stumbled to her own home. The village was set up in a semicircle, and appeared like it had used to be some sort of resort. Now the broken homes served as shelter for the lone survivors. Catherine trudged up the stairs and pushed open the door to her own home. The other survivors had let her take one of the final standing homes for her own, and she was eternally grateful to them. Catherine set Kit down on the bed that was tucked in the corner of the room. The girl smiled softly then rolled over and promptly fell asleep. Catherine smiled, then took one of the spare blankets from her closet and draped it over the girl. Tomorrow they’d find where she was from and her family. Tonight, they were just going to rest. Catherine dragged herself over to the sofa which had mostly been stripped of its stuffing to start fires, and collapsed on top of it. Sleep quickly claimed her and she dozed off, letting her mind finally rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly my thought process for making Cathy and Anne the newlyweds was just, "Lina and Jane are always the cutesy domestic couple, so let's let Cathy and Anne have that for a change." Anyway, a few clarifying notes. Rashadi can have any shape of horns under the sun. So Jane has curved back horns, Anne has rams horns, and Cathy has little nub goat horns. They are extremely hard to break, but it can happen. Rashadi very rarely have antler-like horns, and in fact they don't occur naturally when a Rashadi is born. Rashadi also often get horn jewelry to decorate their horns, and sometimes even get them pierced. When Rashadi get married, they get a small silver cuff for their horns, often inscribed with the name of their partner.


	3. Lashing Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane doesn't like to think about the past. Catherine's seemingly perfect day goes just a little awry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this during a car ride while extremely dehydrated. I proofread it exactly once. I'm so tired :)

When Catherine blinked her eyes open, sunlight was once again pouring through the clouded windows of her home. For a moment she wondered why she wasn’t in her bed, then soft snoring made her recall the reason. Lina smiled at the girl who was still asleep and set about finding her a pair of pants that would stand up to the chilly climate of the coast. Those leggings wouldn’t last a day in the cold and Lina wasn’t about to let her newfound friend freeze. She eventually found a pair of jeans she’d had stashed away that had been too small for her, but would probably fit Kit. When she returned, she found the girl sitting up in bed, peering at her owlishly. Lina smiled, “Did you sleep well?”

Kit nodded, then her eyes drifted to the pair of jeans in Lina’s arms. “A-are those for me?” She whispered, disbelief in her tone. Catherine nodded, handing them to her. The girl took them reverently, almost as if she’d never been given anything before in her life.

The thought made Catherine kind of sad, and as she left to give the girl some privacy, she said, “Do you want to come with me on my walk today? I usually just check on everyone to make sure they’re doing alright. You can meet everyone.”

Kit mulled this over, then quietly whispered, “I’d like that.” Catherine smiled, then left the room. When Kit had finished changing and both of them had freshened up and gotten something quick to eat, Lina pushed the door open and led Kit out into the colony of Ter Cres. Kit seemed to want to look at everything. She blatantly stared at every passing house, person, and landmark. Catherine introduced her to some of the people who were still in the village and not out on the beaches, or inland at the farms. She introduced Kit to Finch, a young teen who’d been kicked out of their last colony because they apparently hadn’t been pulling their weight. “Absolute bs, you can’t blame somebody for not pulling their weight while they’re having a depressive episode.” Lina had snorted. Kit had nodded rapidly and stared back at the waving teen as she walked away.

Catherine had then introduced Kit to Celani and Percy. Normally Percy would be out running messages between the Ter Cres colony and it’s sister colony to the east, but he’d broken his leg and was now being fussed over by his husband. Afterward, Lina took Kit down to the beach and showed her the few fishing boats they’d salvaged. It was an hour round trip from Ter Cres, to the beach, and back, and as the two were about to head to the colony, Lina heard someone calling out to them.

“Catherine! Hey!” Lina turned and saw Hendrick running up to them. She smiled and Kit watched him with badly masked interest. “I, uh, saw we had a newcomer and wanted to give her something.” He blushed and held out a small silver ring with a piece of rose colored sea glass set in it. Kit looked at the ring, then at Hendrick in wonder. “It’s not much, but it was all I could make in such a short notice.” He rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling slightly. Lina knew he did have to deal with a little teasing about his hobby. Most people didn't think a burly, 6’2 guy would have a passion for jewelry making, but Lina had always thought it was very sweet. Kit breathed out a thank you, then gingerly took the ring from him.

As Lina and Kit walked away, Kit looked up at her, “All the people here seem nice.” she murmured.

Lina nodded, smiling. “Almost everyone here is some sort of outcast. Either people didn’t want them, or they didn’t have anyone else to go to.” Kit looked down at her feet, an unspoken, but clear thought running through her head. _‘I’m an outcast too, with nowhere else to go. How long until I have to leave here also?’_ Lina sighed, then put her hand on Kit’s shoulder. “Come on. Everyone here has a job and I got one too. Do you wanna help me?” She watched as Kit hesitantly nodded, then she continued, “Alright. We gotta head into the woods to get firewood. You can help me with bundling it and carrying it back.” The two started off for the dense trees, Lina striding forward and Kit quick at her heels.

Jane strode back to the control room, as the automatic doors opened, she saw Cathy and Anne jump apart guiltily. Affection in public spaces wasn’t permitted in the Rashadi. It was just another form of weakness. Jane didn’t mind much though, her cousin deserved some time with her new wife on this mission. Pretending not to see anything, she simply sat back down in the seat in the center of the room. Jane pulled up different holographic screens, trying to learn as much about Earth as she could. Apparently from what she could see, the planet had been infested with humans. She shuddered, humans were creatures she had only encountered once before. They would either be the kindest, most intelligent creatures you would meet, or brutal savages with only their own interests in mind. The kind she had met on Erlken had been the latter breed. She felt someone near her and she jumped slightly. Anne looked over at her, “Sorry.” She muttered. Jane didn’t reply, choosing instead to continue scrolling through the text on the screens. Anne watched her cousin do this, then asked, “How did the call go?” Jane grunted in reply. Anne smirked, “That bad huh?” Jane waved the screens away, huffing.

“What do you expect. All business. Didn’t stick around. Not like he ever does.” Jane whispered the last part quietly to herself.

Anne smiled softly at her younger cousin. “Hey. We do this last mission and you finally get to go home. Earth has been a Rashadi target for years. If this goes well, it’ll have to make up for what happened on Erlken.” Jane’s ears flattened downwards. She didn’t need reminding of her greatest blunder. The mission to take Erlken had been her first, and she had been desperate to do it correctly. When they finally took the planet, most of her crew had died, just because Jane had stayed behind to help someone who didn’t make it anyway. Henry had been furious and started sending her off Homeworld more often with the ruling that if she could manage to make him forget her mistake, he would consider letting her come back to his court.

Pulling herself back to the present, she hissed at Anne, “I told you not to talk about Erlken. We agreed to let that be buried.”

Anne snorted. “Sure, we agreed to it, but obviously you haven't forgotten it. You even kept your little souvenir of it. You haven't forgotten.” Jane slammed her palm onto the armrest of the throne and dug her claws across the silver surface. The scream of metal echoed through the chamber. Anne didn’t flinch, used to her cousin’s anger fueled outbursts which had become more frequent since becoming queen.

Cathy however, made the mistake of speaking up. “Um, your majesty, maybe it’s not a good idea to do that with the chair, you could damage your claws or-”

Jane clenched her hands, armrest still under her claws, and crushed the metal in her fist. “Did I say you had permission to speak?” She seethed. Cathy paled and backed away.

Anne reached over and forcibly relaxed her cousin’s hand, removing it from the destroyed armrest. “Your Majesty, that was uncalled for. She’s just trying to help. You need to be in peak condition for the harvesting.”

“I didn’t ask for her help.” Jane growled.

“Stop. you’re acting like Henry. I know you’re still hurting, but that’s no reason to lash out at people.” Anne frowned at her. Jane looked away, refusing to meet her older cousin’s gaze.

“He’s not like that.” She whispered. “You don’t know him like I do.” Anne looked at her sadly, but said nothing. For two tension filled hours, silence filled the control room. Cathy had gone back to the front controls and was fiddling with something. Anne had walked over to her wife and whispered something in her ear. Cathy had smiled, took Anne’s hand, and squeezed it. Then Anne had returned to her post at Jane’s side, and stood ramrod straight, staring dead ahead. Jane was sifting through the video sent in from one of the drones they had sent ahead to scout. Nothing of interest had caught her eye, it was mostly footage of ruins and different biomes, but as she was absentmindedly flicking through it, something caught her eye. A small coastal city that had obviously been wrecked by something, but what really interested her were the people. More specifically, the two humans who were returning from the forest. One was wearing a long sleeve shirt rolled up to the elbows and had a primitive weapon that was slung over her shoulder. The other was a small human who wore a bright red coat of some sort, and was carrying bundles of branches and logs. The two seemed to hold respect in the colony, or at least the taller of the two did. Jane watched them with interest as the taller handed out the bundles and the younger stared at everything the elder did. One of the colonists had handed the elder a bundle of food that had been gratefully accepted. After about 30 minutes,the pair returned to the forest. Before they left the colony, Jane snapped a quick picture of the strange pair. She looked over at Anne, and muttered, “Hey, what do you think of these two?”

Anne looked over at the screen, and cocked an eyebrow. “I would assume one’s the leader and the other is her kid or something.”

Jane frowned, “Why do you think she’s the leader?” “Well, the way she carries herself, and the fact that all the other humans are watching her when she walks past. As for the little one, well who knows. Humans have a tendency to bond with anything they come across.” Jane nodded thoughtfully, then started bouncing ideas off Anne for ways to best deal with the leader. As Anne put it, “A snake without its head can’t bite back.” It had taken them a while to agree on a strategy, but eventually Anne and Jane decided the best plan of action would be to take the leader hostage and use her as a bargaining chip to extort the local population before wiping them out. Cathy had come over to the two, still a little wary of Jane, but reported that they would be arriving sooner than expected. Earth would be arriving in their sights soon.

Jane smiled, “I need to speak to Anna.” Cathy nodded and sent a message out via her holographic screens. A few moments later, the automatic doors whooshed open and Anna stepped into the control room. Anna had been part of Jane’s crew for years, along with Cathy and Anne, and had been at her side during the Erlken harvest. She had a long jagged scar that ran over her right eye, and one of her ears was nicked from a scuffle. Anne still remembered the person Anna used to be. Not this shell who seemed to be the perfect soldier. Anne remembered Anna as the Rashadi who had first introduced her to Cathy, was always up to go do something stupid, and would do anything for her friends. Now, she was stripped down to a husk, one that looked like Anna, but had none of her fire. Just her deadly skill. Anna snapped to attention in front of Jane, then knelt.

“Orders ma’am?”

Jane pulled up the image she had taken of the two humans. “I need her.” she said, showing the tracker to Anna, “Alive, not dead. We’ll set up camp somewhere in the vicinity of their primitive colony. You’ll be able to find us.” Anna nodded, stood, and left the control room. Jane grinned. This was going to be too easy.

Catherine frowned. This was all too easy. There hadn’t been any emergencies that had immediately demanded their attention. Kit had a small panic attack when someone had put their hand on her shoulder and hadn’t removed it, but that had been easily calmed down. Catherine was honestly suspicious of just how well her day had gone. Most of the time, at least two things went wrong before lunch, today had been perfect. Kit was swinging Lina’s axe around and grinning as she attempted to cut one of the larger logs in two. Catherine laughed as Kit finally managed it, then ran over with the two uneven halves smiling excitedly. Lina smiled and tied the two logs into one of the bundles they had been making. “Alright, time to head home.” Kit nodded and laughed, running through the woods. Lina watched her new young friend with interest. She ran like she’d known the woods her entire life, but according to Kit, she had never been here before. Shrugging it off, she walked after Kit, hefting the bundles of wood onto her back. It was getting darker, a cool twilight breeze blowing through the forest. Eventually Lina caught up to Kit and the two walked on the beaten trail back home.

The sharp crack of a branch was nothing new to Lina, but Kit perked up nervously. “Did you hear that?” she whispered. She had a tendency of speaking so softly and quietly, sometimes Lina almost didn’t hear her.

Lina shrugged. “Probably some wild animal. It doesn’t matter.” Kit nodded hesitantly and didn’t speak up again, but Catherine noticed she clung to the handle of her axe like a lifeline now. They were almost out of the woods when it happened. Lina had been letting her mind wander to what she wanted to eat when she got back, when something cold and hard hit the back of her head. She stumbled forward, stars dancing in front of her vision.

“Catherine?” Kit squeaked, horror creeping into her voice.

Catherine couldn’t see straight, her head was pounding, but she dragged herself upright. “I-I’m fine I just-” Someone dropped out of the trees in between her and Kit. The figure appeared human, about Kit’s age, but what really caught her attention was the lashing tail and the deer-like antlers on top of her head. The figure turned to Catherine and she stifled a gasp, its eyes were orange, almost glowing in the low light. The way it half crouched, with one hand out behind in the air, and one on the ground for balance, it reminded Lina of the crappy old werewolf monster movies she and her father would salvage and watch on quiet days. The throbbing in her head wouldn’t stop, and she touched the back of her head where she’d been struck. Her hand came away bloody. Kit saw the blood and shrieked. The creature snarled and pounced towards Kit and Lina screamed. Her head felt heavy, like she was about to fall asleep. Dropping to her knees she saw the creature pounce onto Kit, then with a swift blow to her head, knock the girl out. The creature stood over Kit’s unmoving body, then started towards her. ‘Run’ her instincts begged her. ‘Stay’. Her heart sobbed.

Catherine watched like someone in a dream as the creature walked up to her. “Count yourself lucky the queen wants you alive human scum. Normally, we take no prisoners.” Lina felt a sharp pain in the side of her head, then keeled forwards as the world faded to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright we finally get all six queens in the same place! I wonder how Lina's going to react to getting kidnapped. She'll be fine...probably.


	4. Captive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catherine gets an audience with her captors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey um, I'm sorry this took a while to get out. I haven't been feeling great and my motivation to write was kinda low. This chapter is kinda short, but I promise I'll get longer and much better ones out soon.

She was definitely curious, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t cautious. With both Anne and Cathy standing at her side, Jane watched as Anna came back from the dense trees, hoping to catch a glimpse of the prisoner. Anna blew a tuft of hair out of her face, and threw not one, but two bodies onto the ground. Confused Jane stared at her best officer. “Why are there two of them?”

Anna snapped to attention. “You asked for the girl in the photo ma’am, there were two and you did not specify which you desired so I brought you both.”

Jane blinked, she couldn't exactly argue with that. “Fine. Imprison them both. The younger could be useful in controlling the human leader.” Anna nodded, then hefted the younger over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes, dragging the taller behind her. Jane watched them go, then turned to Cathy. “I want to know how the colony will fare without their leader. Anne,” Jane turned to the other Rashadi, “I need you to help me with interrogations.” Cathy and Anne nodded, and Cathy took a running start, then bounded off into one of the trees and raced away in the top of the tallest boughs. Anne and Jane turned to head back into the ship which they’d landed in a clearing. Jane grinned. “Lets go give our guests a warm welcome."

Catherine woke up alone. Not a new occurrence for her, she was used to being alone. What she wasn’t used to, was waking up in a futuristic cell of some kind. The walls were a pristine white, and instead of a door, a glowing green film of some kind was blocking her exit. She stood, and walked over to it. Just being in the vicinity of the green film made the hair of her neck stand on end. She reached out tentatively and touched it. An electric shock sent her careening backwards. She groaned, then moved to try and go up to it again, when she felt something drag her backwards. Looking down, she saw two silver cuffs around her wrists and similar ones around her ankles. Struggling to her feet, she fiddled with the silver bracelets and tried to see if she could get them off. They had no visible area where they clicked together, it looked almost like Lina had just always worn them her whole life. She huffed frustration and sat back down again. After a moment’s hesitation, she stood again and tried to walk to the door. Something tugged her back and when she looked to see what it was. Connected from the silver bands, long chains of greenish energy that looked to be the same material as the door chained her down. This was all getting a bit too weird for her taste. First that strange hallucination creature with the horns and tail, and now this? She shook her head, trying to clear it. She must have hit her head harder than she thought. Then she remembered Kit. Kit had been with her, and now she was nowhere to be found. Panic and adrenaline shot through her and she struggled against her restraints, trying to get out to find her friend. The entrance to her cell then slid open and Catherine stopped struggling as someone walked in. Whoever, or whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t human. The woman had dark brown hair and had a sharp gaze. Lina noted with wide eyed astonishment that she also had horns and a tail, but her horns were more reminiscent of rams horns in the way they curled. She also had slitted orange eyes that watched Lina so closely, it felt like she was staring right through her. As the woman towered over Catherine, she suddenly got the feeling she wasn’t going to be going home anytime soon.  
Catherine was roughly jerked up to her feet and hauled out of the cell. She watched as the glowing green chains that connected to the silver cuffs flickered, then disappeared. The strange woman dragged her out of her cell and past countless other cells. Most of them were empty but as they were nearing the end of the hall, Lina glanced into one of the cells, and saw Kit curled up in the corner. “KIT!” she cried. Wrenching her wrist away from the strange woman, she lurched over to the cell and slammed a fist against it. Kit looked up, saw her, and ran to the door. Lina couldn’t hear her through the door, but she felt a hand on her shoulder and panicked. Months of hardwired adrenaline shot through her and she spun and slammed the heel of her palm into the nose of the person behind her. The ram-horned alien reeled backwards and golden amber blood flowed from her nose. Lina didn’t even have the time to feel remorse as she frantically searched for a way to get her young friend out of her cell. Just as she was sure she’d found something, a strong grip closed around her throat.

A gruff voice behind her murmured, “Keep a better grip on your prisoners Captain Boleyn.”

“Yea whatever.” the other voice replied. Catherine was once again roughly jostled away into a series of long hallways. The hand around her throat kept her head fuzzy and prevented her from thinking straight. Eventually she was thrown into a large room with a silver throne in the center. Beeping panels and flashing buttons surrounded her. Lina took a moment to wheeze and catch her breath. She picked herself up off of her knees and stood, looking around. When her gaze settled back onto the throne again, she realized for the first time, she wasn’t alone. A woman sat on the throne, watching her intently. She had blonde hair and curving horns, one of which looked to be partially made of ice. She had a long tufted tail that flicked lazily back and forth like a cat. She stared at Catherine like she was a delicacy to be devoured, then spoke in a calm, measured voice.

“Welcome Catherine, to the Rashadi. It is excellent to have you as our guest.” She leaned forward slightly in her seat, grinning, “I do hope you stay a while.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, I just wanted to once again apologize for my absence. I may dissapear some more over the week, I'm working as a ranch hand at a local summer camp in my area so that takes up a lot of my time haha


	5. Tears and Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane and Catherine have a confrontation. Anne doesn't like being read, while Kit doesn't want to be hurt anymore. Catherine finally has a good cry and Cathy finishes her reconnaissance mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ATTENTION  
> THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SOME BRIEF/VAUGE DESCRIPTIONS OF TORTURE AND CHARACTER DEATH  
> IF YOU DON"T WANT TO READ IT, FINISH READING AT THE SENTENCE, "Rolling her neck, Cathy prepared to sprint the rest of the way home. Third and fatal mistake."  
> I'm sorry this took a while. I wasn't inspired and I don't think it turned out amazing, but I hope y'all like it anyway.

Jane stood, tail curling around her ankles as she began to walk towards the human. “Now, as a prerequisite of our hospitality, I do have a few questions.” she laid a hand over her chest and grinned. As she reached the human, Jane reached down and harshly grabbed her chin. Forcing the human to look up at her, she snarled, “I’d like to know just how you fragile beings managed to survive. There’s no way you could manage to live without help. So where have you been getting the resources to survive?”

The human scoffed, then replied, “We’ve been surviving on our own. We haven’t needed anyone’s help. Humans are a lot smarter than you think, whatever the hell you are.”

Jane tilted her head curiously, she frowned, mulling this over. “Would you say you care for those other humans in that colony of yours?”

The human seemed to reply without thinking. “Of course.”

Jane smiled. “Wonderful. Frankly you look like a much hardier hostage than that other human in the holding cells.” Jane snorted, “She wouldn’t last a night with the Rashadi.” Jane watched the human pale, and she had the information she needed. Obviously the child in the first holding cell would be pivotal in controlling this one.

“Don’t you touch a hair on her head or I swear I’ll rend you limb from limb.” the human spoke in such a deadpan voice, that if Jane hadn’t been impeccably trained, she might have been taken aback.

But she kept her slightly arrogant expression and continued on. “Of course if you don’t comply with our wishes, we might have to...let her know she means nothing to you.” The look of unbridled rage on the human’s face was delicious and Jane reveled in it. The human wrenched her face out of Jane’s hand, and Jane’s claws left long red scars across the soft cheek flesh. She looked up at Jane, fire flashing in her golden eyes. Crimson blood dripped down her cheeks and Jane stared, red blood was something so foreign to her, it transfixed her.

The human hissed, “My people will notice I’m gone. They’ll come for me.” Jane laughed, a harsh bark that startled the human. “Oh, I hope they do. I’ve been itching for a fight. It will be an honor knowing I was the one with the privilege to wipe the human race off the face of this planet.” She snapped her finger, and Anna and Anne once again walked into the throne room. Anne still had drying amber blood crusting on her upper lip. “Take the human to her quarters. Keep her there until we need her again.” Anna jerked the prisoner up to her feet.

The human snarled and spat out at Jane, “I have a name you know. Catherine. Have the decency to use it.” Jane just returned to her seat and said nothing. As Anna dragged her off, Jane closed her eyes.

She could feel Anne at her arm. “Harsh.” Anne whispered. Jane snorted. “Let her know her place quickly. Then she won’t have too much fight in her later.” Anne said nothing, but reached out to her younger cousin. She brushed a hand over Jane’s cheek, where a similar set of scars lay, these faded with time. Jane slapped Anne’s hand away and huffed. Anne just sighed sadly, and whispered, “you’re getting too similar.” Anne disappeared into one of the side hallways, and Jane was left, a single hand reaching up to brush up where Anne’s hand had just been. The image of the human glaring up at her with fiery golden eyes burned into her memory.

Catherine knew these kinds of people. People who would try and scare you into compliance with a well placed threat or a harsh hand. Obviously whoever that leader was, she was one of those kinds of people. Catherine had never before been scared of it, but that woman? She terrified Catherine. With orange eyes that glowed and stared at her like she either wanted to eat her, or dissect her, the woman transfixed Lina. she had a presence that was undeniable. It didn't help that the woman was gorgeous too. Lina despised that the thought even crossed her mind, but she had to admit the alien was beautiful, in a sharp, harsh way. She was beautiful in the way a lioness was beautiful. Something to be admired, but not touched, lest you wanted to have your throat torn open. Speaking of which, Lina touched her cheek where the woman had scratched her. When she pulled her hands away, her fingers were stained in crimson. The other alien, Rashadi the woman had called them, walked closely behind her. She wasn’t holding her like she had before, but just her presence was enough to make Catherine think twice about fleeing. The Rashadi behind her steered her into a large room, one that was furnished, unlike her other cell, but still sparse and militaristic. A single bed was in the corner, and a desk in the other. A closet and shelf were along the wall next to the desk and the rest of the room was bare. The wall where the door should have been was replaced by another green, glowing wall, just like the one in her old cell. As the Rashadi pushed her in, Catherine whipped around and watched as the Rashadi reactivated the green holographic wall, then walked away, footsteps mechanical and stiff. She once again reached out to touch the green wall, this time, it didn’t send the same electric shock down her arm. Catherine turned her back to it, and leaned against it. For the first time in many years, Catherine cried.

Anne didn’t pay attention to where her feet led her. She just traced familiar steps through the ship’s halls, steps taken countless times on countless patrols. Eventually, she wandered into the holding cells. Anne had spent hours here, mocking prisoners, interrogating them, sometimes disciplining them. She remembered the previous inhabitants of some of the cells. All dead, most by her own hand. Some of the important ones, Jane executed herself, but most of the time, it was her duty. One she did unflinchingly. Hesitation would be a weakness, and it was better them than her. But as time dragged on, it became harder and harder to lift the cold, unfeeling metal barrel and press it against a pleading victim’s head. Anne had stopped in front of one of the cells, still staring straight ahead as she let her mind wander, when a small voice broke through the silence. “Are you here to kill me?'' The voice was so quiet and soft, Anne almost missed it.

Turning to the cell, her eyes alighted on a small human girl, sitting on her knees and staring up at Anne. Anne frowned and squatted down in front of the girl, tail swinging lazily back and forth. “Maybe I am, what does it matter to you?”

The girl tilted her head, and spoke in the same soft tone, “I don’t think you are. I think you’re worried and you came here to clear your head.” Anne blinked in surprise, she almost fell backwards, but her tail straightened out and pushed against the ground to steady her. Was she that easy to read? If she was, Anne had to fix it. Being easily readable could make any imperfections in who she was more visible.

“What makes you say that?” she tried pitching her tone up into a mocking laugh, and glared at the girl. The girl brushed away Anne’s attempt at bravado and continued,

“I think you’re worried about someone, but they’re pushing you away. You don’t know how to react, and you’re scared.” the girl stared at Anne, watching her. “You’re scared for them. You don’t know how to help, and you’re not sure if they want help.”

Anne stood suddenly, stumbling back. “You don’t know anything about me.” She hissed. Anne backed away from the cell, she’d been to plenty of planets where the inhabitants had strange abilities. Powers to warp and twist the body and mind and Anne hated it. “What are you?” she hissed in a strangled tone.

The human just looked away sadly. “I’ve spent a lot of time alone. It pays to be able to read what someone wants with you." The girl sounded so sad and defeated that Anne didn't know how to react. She hesitated, then sat down in front of the cell. The human looked at her forlornly. For the longest time, neither spoke, then, “My name’s Kit Kat.” The human barely whispered.

Anne blinked in surprise, then responded, “I’m Anne.” The two sat, staring at each other through the green translucent screen. The silence was deafening.

Catherine’s breath came in great heaving breaths. Tears streamed down her face, salt stinging in her open wounds. Scrubbing her face with the back of her flannel sleeve, she stood and wandered around her cell. She eventually sat down on the bunk and swung her feet back and forth. Lina could still feel the tear tracks on her face and it made her face feel stiff and flushed. There was a small window in the back and she looked outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of the familiar dense trees of the coast. She could barely see the shadows through the trees. Night had fallen. She turned away from the window and rolled over onto her side on the bunk. Tears once again beaded up in her eyes. She tried to ignore the growing feeling of homesickness in her gut, but it gnawed at her like a hungry animal. She wondered what Kit was doing. Lina gritted her teeth and jammed her eyes shut. The least she could do would be to get a good night's rest. The universe owed her that at least

Cathy sped through the forest. At some points, branches nicked her face, but they healed over relatively quickly. Cathy thanked her quick healing that she wasn’t constantly dealing with nicks and cuts constantly. As she leaped from branch to branch her mind wandered back to Anne. she wondered if she should’ve said something before she left. A quick “I love you.” a peck on the cheek, anything. But Cathy had zoomed off without a second glance. She felt a little bad, but Anne had to understand. Affection showed weakness. You didn’t show weakness. Sometimes people thought she was weaker since Anne was Jane’s royal guard and she was just an engineer. But as people quickly found out, she was just as skilled in combat as Anne, she just happened to be better with machines than people. Cathy quickly came up on the human colony. The sun hadn’t quite set, but humans were sending out search parties, calling for their lost members. Cathy grinned, if they were searching, that meant whoever that flannel wearing human was, she was definentaly important to them. She turned tail, and raced back into dense woods. Her long buff coloured tail waving behind her. Cathy had gotten a good distance when she made her first mistake. She paused in her stride to take a breath and scrambled up a tree to not be spotted. When she had gotten her breath back, she climbed back down the tree to keep going, but first took a second to take a sip of water from her canteen. Second mistake. Rolling her neck, Cathy prepared to sprint the rest of the way home. Third and fatal mistake. Just as she launched off the ground, someone’s hand closed around her neck. Cathy choked and just stopped herself from crying out. She vaguely heard a huff of laughter from whoever had a grip on her neck. Cathy froze, she recognized that voice. She twisted in the person’s grip and her orange eyes widened as she saw them. “W-what are you-” Cathy’s words were cut short by a harsh bark of laughter and she cried out as the hand crushed down and she felt the bones in her sternum and clavicle crunch. Tears streamed from her eyes as the person slammed her to the ground and she felt bone pierce up through her chest. Cathy wailed in pain and the person covered her mouth. She panicked as she watched the person draw a knife from their belt. “Stay quiet, pretty thing. Don’t speak.” Cathy lay her head back and sobbed. She tried to think of Anne, to summon up any scrap of energy she had left but the hands on her body seemed to drain the life from her. She felt armor click off and her mind went blank as fear took over.

Maybe an eternity had passed, maybe a moment, Cathy wasn't sure. The man seemed to have taken great pleasure in finding each way Cathy screamed as the edge of the knife bit into her flesh. Slash marks covered every inch of her thighs and forearms, and some over her stomach. Those had been the ones the man had taken the most pleasure in carving into her skin as Cathy screamed and tried to twist away.

As she felt the hands leave her body, she tried to find the energy to run, to get back to her Annie, to do anything. Her blaster. It was still at her hip. She almost screamed again in pain, but just as her hand touched the weapon the person jerked her up. “Oh no pretty. That was fun, but i can’t have you getting away, that would be ever so terrible.” Cathy felt her body being picked up and turned to be pressed against her captors chest. The cold feel of metal against her throat made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. “Wai-” a foreign feeling across her neck made her pause. Warmth, wet, sticky warmth. Cathy collapsed, hands clutching at her neck, making gurgling choking sounds. Blood poured through her fingers and the tears started again. She saw her captor walk away as she desperately tore cloth from her waist cape to press up into her neck. A gurgling noise escaped her throat, barely recognizable in a name. “A-annie. I- I l-” Cathy’s voice gave out and she lay still against the cold ground. Once again the silence took over the forest and the still form of Catherine Parr lay against the orange, gold leaves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mmmmmm I wonder what happens next? Gosh I wonder how Anne will handle this news ^-^ I suppose it will be with traditional Rashadi coldness and stiff upper lip attitude.
> 
> AHAHAHA that's funny.


	6. Temper, Temper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emotions run high. A deal is made

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright I'm back everyone! Hope everyone's doing okay after the end of that last chapter. Anyway, I think I made up for it with this one :))  
> And if it was unclear, yes. Cathy is dead. She's not playing dead, she's not just heavily wounded, shes dead. Her healing factor ain't putting a dent in that. Sorry if that wasnt clear to anyone reading, I apologize!

When the morning broke, Jane strode out into the corridor. Anne came scampering up the hall, hair still slightly mussed from a heavy night's sleep. “Captain Boleyn reporting for duty ma’am” Jane cast a critical eye over her cousin as Anne tried to slick her hair down. Jane sighed and turned to walk down the hall. Anne walked just behind her and to her right, chattering excitedly. “The younger human, her name is Kit Kat! I think Cathy would really like her.” Anne beamed, obviously excited to talk about her new wife. “Kit is actually pretty intelligent, for a human anyway.” Jane tuned out the rest of her cousin’s inane chatter as they eventually got to the control room. As Jane walked in, Anne burst in behind her, orange eyes bright. “CATHY! You’ll never guess what I- huh.” Cathy was nowhere to be found.

“That’s odd.” Jane murmured, “She’s never late, lateness would be a weakness.”

Anne nodded in agreement, then shrugged. “Maybe she got in after night fell and she’s resting up for her report.” Smiling and bouncing, Anne resumed her station at Jane’s right hand. Once again Jane was subjected to Anne’s excited babble about Cathy. How she looked, how she smelled, how her laugh was so sweet and beautiful. Jane was prepared to snap at Anne to make her shut up, when she saw the expression on Anne’s face. It was dreamy and far away and Jane briefly wondered if she and Henry had ever looked at each other like Anne and Cathy did. She pushed it out of her mind. Jane had work to do.

Anna strode down the halls, staring straight ahead. She had one goal, find the girl and bring her out of her cell. She would do it perfectly. When she got the human’s cell, the girl looked up. “Hello.” Anna blinked, “Hello? Me?”

The girl shrugged. “Who else, the wall?” Anna wasn’t sure what to make of this strange creature.

So she simply decided to unlock the cell and walk in. “I have orders to bring you to the control room.” the girl snarled, “I’m not going anywhere with you. Don’t fucking touch me.” Anna was taken aback, hadn’t Captain Boleyn mentioned the girl, Kit was her name, was quiet and meek? That she didn’t say much and was compliant? That’s when Anna noted the dark circles under the girl’s eyes. She was probably dead tired, and snapping out of exhaustion. Anna reached out to activate the silver cuffs around Kit’s wrists, when she suddenly moved with an incredible speed.

Anna barely had time to blink before Kit slammed a fist into the side of Anna’s cheek. “Don't touch me fucker.” She growled. Anna let a hand drift up to her cheek, then laughed. Kit watched wide-eyed as the bruise turned a dark colour against Anna’s skin, then faded.

“You’ve got fight in you, I can respect that, but your technique is awful.”

Kit looked so taken aback that she’d actually struck someone that she stammered out, “I’m sorry I don’t know what-”

Anna waved the apology away. “Don’t be. It’s exciting having some interesting prisoners on the ship for once.” The girl looked at her feet and didn’t reply. Anna once again reached out and this time activated the cuffs. The glowing green chains appeared in Anna’s hands and she led her prisoner down to the bridge. When the pair arrived, Anne was returning with the other human, Catherine. Anne smiled at Anna, then returned to Jane's right hand. Catherine also looked like she’d gotten little sleep.

Jane relaxed in her chair, then spoke. “I do apologize that our engineer isn't here to join us. She seems to have disappeared momentarily. However, I did wish to let you humans,” Jane spit the word out like it was poison on her tongue, “In on some of the rules.” Jane glanced over to Anna and Kit. Anna snapped to attention, training taking over her muscle movements. “You will be assigned to watch this human day in and day out. If our other guest ever happens to...deviate from what we want from her, you have my permission to do what you want with the girl.” Anna could feel Kit stiffen. As Jane turned to address Anne, Anna turned towards Kit. Before she could regret her decision, Anna whispered, “Hey. are you alright?” Kit didn’t look at her, she kept her gaze leveled at the floor. Anna was struggling with what to say. She didn’t “do” emotion. But she put a hand on the girl’s shoulder, and squeezed it comfortingly. At least she hoped it was comforting. Kit didn’t respond, but raised her eyes and kept them trained on Lina. Anna dropped her hand from Kit’s shoulder. Maybe she was worse at this comforting thing than she thought.

Jane was getting impatient. Catherine was being difficult which was not helping her already stressful morning. The human was making snarky comments after everything she said and blatantly ignoring her order to stay silent. If they hadn’t been enemies, Jane would’ve admired Catherine’s tenacity in annoying her. So much about this human was annoying. Her fiery gold glare, her stupidly strong arms under a flannel that was just a touch too tight, her annoying windswept hair that still smelled slightly of the sea wind, her dumb face that held just enough pride to make her look undefeated, her soft looking lips....Jane shook herself as she realized she was blatantly staring. What was wrong with her? This was the enemy. Vermin to be defeated, not appreciated. Catherine caught her eye, and winked. Jane choked and looked away quickly. Why did the human have to make things so difficult?

Jane was about to snap and send the humans away, when the large com-screen displayed on the windshield flickered to life. Jane stood angrily. Unauthorized calls to the control room weren’t allowed. As the screen cleared and displayed the name of the caller, Anne gasped. “That’s Cathy’s pad!” Jane settled back into her chair, but her face was creased in confusion. Cathy did everything by the book, so why didn’t she come back to base? As the screen cleared, it wasn’t Cathy’s face that was displayed, instead, a view of a forest filled the display. Jane opened her mouth to say something, when loud noise echoed out through the screen.

Then, “Hey, this is one of those weird alien communicators right?” another voice off screen called out, “Shut up it's on!” After some more light bickering, the first voice spoke again. “We don’t know who the fuck you people are, but you’re not human. Give us back Catherine and Kit. If you don’t, well, we humans are pretty strong.” The screen shook as whoever was holding it lifted up the pad, and tilted it towards the ground. “Be a shame to lose any more of your soldiers, whatever the hell you are.” The pad slipped from the grasp of whoever was holding it, and someone in the video yelled, “SHIT!” and the image on the screen froze. Jane’s eyes widened as she realized just what the people holding the pad had been showing them. The brown curly hair, the normally dark skin now tainted with golden amber blood, the short stubbed horns, one still glistening with the familiar wedding band, it was like a nightmare. One she wasn’t waking up from.

Jane stared up at the corpse of her lieutenant, Catherine Parr. Dead silence rang through the control room, then a piercing scream ripped through the room. Anne collapsed to her knees, sobbing. For once, Jane was glad that most of her troops were on separate ships in the small base camp they’d set up. No one was there to witness Anne’s momentary weakness, except for Anna, the humans, and herself. Anne wailed as she clawed down on the metal floor. Jane stood and whirled on Catherine, who looked just as shocked as everyone else.

“You.” Jane’s voice was as sharp as steel and she advanced on the human. “Your people killed my lieutenant.”

Catherine looked vaguely shell shocked as she shook her head. “No, that’s not right, we’re mostly peaceful. They wouldn’t do that.”

Jane reached out, grabbed her lapels, and slammed Catherine against a wall. “WHO ARE THEY?” Catherine growled and slammed the heel of her palm into the side of Jane’s hand.

“I said I don’t know!” Catherine seemed to almost deflate, “Their voices aren’t familiar to me, they could be from another local colony!”

“Why would they mention you then?” Jane snarled.

“I have no idea! Maybe they know about me from trading?” Lina struggled for freedom, “Humans are usually pretty protective of their own.” Jane dropped Catherine to the ground.

Whirling around to Anna, she hissed, “Get them out of here.” as Anna led the humans out of the control room, Jane walked over to her cousin. This was going to be a fun conversation.

As Jane stood next to her cousin, she squared her shoulders. Anne’s gasping sobs ripped from her chest and made Jane wince in sympathy. After about five minutes, she said, “I know you’re hurting, but we have to move on. We can’t let this affect us.”

The sobbing stopped momentarily. Then Anne turned towards Jane, eyes wide. “Move on?”

Jane frowned, nodding. “Yes, it’s a tragedy, but we can’t let it consume us.” Jane turned her back to her cousin, taking a moment to collect herself, when Anne launched herself off the ground and slammed into Jane, pinning her to the ground. Jane snarled and tried to push her cousin off of her, but Anne held tight.

The two tussled for control, Jane attempting to push Anne off of her, and Anne holding tight to her cousin’s forearms, drawing blood. “Move on? She hissed. “When Eddie died, did I tell you to move on?” Anne slammed Jane’s shoulders into the ground again. “When Cathy came back holding him, did I stop you from sobbing out there in the open?” Suddenly Anne’s eyes lost their fire and anger, and became dull. “Don’t tell me to move on, not when you still haven’t.” she slumped back, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Jane sat up, “A-Annie I’m sorry.” Anne made a disgusted noise, “Are you? Or are you looking for some quick forgiveness like you always do? Like he taught you to look for?” Jane tried to say anything, to stammer out some kind of more sincere sounding apology, anything to appease her cousin, but Anne was out for blood. In the same dreadfully quiet tone, Anne hissed, “I gave you time, time you didn’t deserve. Cathy’s death wasn’t even my fault, but Edward’s? That’s all on you.” Jane’s face paled and Anne’ hands flew to her mouth. The two cousins were silent for a while, each scared to break the quiet. “Jane I didn’t mean it, I'm sorry.” Anne eventually whispered.

Jane just stared at Anne, then muttered, “No, I haven’t moved on, but we can’t show weakness. We can’t.”

Anne hung her head, “What have we come to? Where loving someone was a weakness?” Jane knew what Anne was talking about. It hadn’t always been like this, the rule of show no weakness used to be restricted to just cowardice in battle, but suddenly it encompassed every aspect of their lives.

Jane pulled herself out from under Anne and sat facing her. “We’ll need to recover the body.” Jane whispered.

Anne choked back another sob, then whispered, “Will you do it? Or will you send out one of your little soldiers to do it?” Jane opened her mouth, then shut it.

On impulse she blurted out, “I’ll do it.”

Anne stared at her cousin. Then scrubbed the back of her hand over her eyes. “Okay, I’ll stay here and make sure operations stay stable. You’ll need to find her body and recover the tech on it.”

Jane nodded and sighed. “I’ll have to talk to the humans. I don’t know these woods as well as they do.”

Anne looked up at her cousin, “You now they’ll want something in return.”

Jane just turned towards the door. “I know.”

Jane easily found Catherine’s cell, it wasn’t hard as she knew her ship like the back of her hand. The human was leaning against one of the walls and looked over at her as Jane approached. “What do you want?” Catherine sighed.

Jane steeled herself, swallowed her pride, and said, “I require your assistance.”

Lina raised an eyebrow, and replied, “Really? With what?”

Jane crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. “We need to go and recover my lieutenant's body. If the technology on her gets into the hands of the humans it would be disastrous.”

The human snorts, “So why should I help you? Wouldn’t the technology falling into human hands be beneficial to me?”

Jane shrugs, years of practice at keeping a perfect mask hiding her rising frustration. “I suppose it could be beneficial for a while, until one of you humans breaks something and you’re left without your supposed advantage.”

Lina rolled her eyes, then said, “Even if I do act as your guide, what’s in it for me? There’s no point to me helping you, I want to see you fail.”

Jane worried at her lower lip, then offered, “What if the Rashadi agreed to leave your colony alone for the time being. We’d take our harvest from other colonies and come to yours last.”

Lina shook her head. “You’d still end up killing us all anyway, what's the deal in that?”

“Look, the big problem isn’t recovering the weapons, it's about the tech Lieutenant Parr had on her for information purposes.” Jane hesitated for a moment, before continuing, “My people are a race built around the base need of survival. We were born for war, and we’ve honed it into our craft. Rashadi weapons are much more advanced than you think. Falling by your own weapon is dishonorable, so Rashadi weapons are designed to only be used by Rashadi hands.”

“Meaning?” Catherine interrupted. 

“Meaning that if one of your humans tried to use Rashadi weaponry, they’d end up with an explosion on their hands.”

“But not so with the information based tools?”

Jane groaned, “Like I said, we work with war, our main concern is in what we fight with. I know there aren’t many humans left on Earth, losing any to rouge Rashadi tech would be a nightmare for you.”

Catherine mused over this, then answered, “I’ll help you, in exchange for the freedom of myself, and of my companion.”

Jane’s brow furrowed. “That’s a high demand.”

Lina crossed her arms over her chest. “Those are my terms.

Jane mulled it over then, “Fine. However the child will stay here, watched by Captain Boleyn and Lieutenant Cleves until we return successful.”

Catherine nodded, then held out her hand. Jane took it and the pair shook on their deal. “Alright your majesty. Just tell me where we’re going and we can get this show on the road.”

_It hurt. That’s all she knew. It hurt so badly...and then it didn’t. When she opened her eyes, she was sitting in the palm of someone’s hand. She was dressed in blue robes and she didn’t feel any of the pain she had been feeling before. The someone looked down at her and she gasped. Their skin was a dark tan, and had pale white hair. Two pairs of deep blue cobalt eyes stared at her. “My child, you should not have returned to me so soon.” She shrugged, there hadn’t been much she could’ve done about it. The being sighed and said, “If I send you home, will you at least be more careful this time?” once again she shrugged. The being smiled at her like a mother smiles at a child. They touched her forehead with a single clawed finger and she felt something slip away, like water between her fingers or a dream after waking. She cried out softly, and the being shushed her. “I give you one thread to hold onto. A name.” She cried out again as the being pressed a clawed fingertip to her forehead once more. A small scrap of a memory returned and she clung to it like a drowning man clings to a lifeline. “Have a safe trip home my child, but not just yet. Stay with me a moment longer.” She smiled, staying sounded good. It was warm and comforting and it made her feel safe. Maybe she’d stay just a little longer. She lay down in the being’s palm, closed her eyes, and slept._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you enjoy? Please drop a comment if you did! Even if its just to scream! Anyway, I guess we're going off on an adventure with our next chapters. Lina and Jane are gonna get along great! Right?


	7. Starting fresh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catherine and Jane prepare to head off. Anna and Kit learn about each other. She makes her decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter isn't as long! I'll make the next one longer I promise haha.  
> Also Anne really isn't in this chapter either. She'll come back soon.

Catherine watched as Jane pulled a holopad out and tapped out some commands. Truth be told, she wasn’t all that interested, but if hauling this galactic warlord off on some stupid road trip would get her and Kit off this crazy ship, she’d have to do it. Jane finished what she was doing, then flipped the screen to face Lina. Lina raised an eyebrow. “What am I looking at here?”

Jane rolled her eyes. “Our problem is we don’t know exactly where we’re going. After the so-called War of the End as it's called, technology on your planet is...spotty.” Catherine knew what she was referring to. Sometimes, colonies could go weeks practically in the stone age, and sometimes you’d see humans racing past on stolen cars. “Anyway, the point is we don’t actually know where Lieutenant Parr’s body is, and we were hoping you could figure it out from this freeze-frame.”

Lina inspected the still image, then spotted something at the edge of the image. “That’s the Astor Column.” Jane looked over at the image, “What’s the big deal about that structure? Does it have some important purpose?”

Catherine shook her head. “No, actually, I don’t know what it’s purpose was before the war. But rumor has it now that the place is haunted.”

Jane snorted derisively. “Haunted? Really?”

Lina smacked the woman on the shoulder, “Seriously! The column glows at night and apparently there’s some kind of creature there that protects the building. Most people don’t go near it.”

Jane smirked. “Scared to go near it, human?”

“No! I’m just telling you about the stories.” Truth be told Lina didn’t want to go within 10 mile of that column, but if it would get her out of this, she’d have to do it. “When do you want to leave?”

“Preferably as soon as possible.” Jane put the pad away and Lina watched her walk out of the cell.

Speed walking slightly to catch up with the rashadi, she asked, “Do you have a way to get there quickly? Like a vehicle of some sort?” Jane shook her head. “I’d rather not use a transport, it would create too much noise and bring too much attention to us.” Lina nodded, that sounded reasonable, even if that meant a long walk. _‘Correction’_ , she thought, _without stopping, it would take us 45 hours. With breaks, who knows how long.’_ With this woman as a traveling companion, that prospect didn’t sound fun.

Eventually Jane led them to a room where Lina saw more weapons in one place than she had in her entire life. She whistled appreciatively, and watched Jane disappear around a corner. After a minute, Jane returned holding a familiar red fire axe, leather harness, and a pack which slung over one of her shoulders. Thanking her, Lina re-fastened her shoulder holster around her chest, and slid her axe into the leather keeper on the back. Jane simply picked up a new set of bracers, putting down her old ones, and fastened them to her forearms. Lina watched her strap them on, then flex her arms. Her eyes widened as green light seemed to flow over Jane’s hands, then harden into translucent gauntlets, leaving the palms and undersides of her fingers uncovered.. The tips at the fingers were clawed, just like Jane’s actual hands and the solid green light seemed to bend and shift with Jane’s movements. “Nice.” She said. Jane nodded in thanks, then walked back out of the room. Jane once again took the lead, eventually bringing the pair out into the sunlight again.

Jane’s ear twitched slightly, and turned to Lina. “Ready to go?” Lina sighed, patting down her pockets.

Nothing of the holster’s contents had been removed and she could still feel all her things. “Yep. we’re heading north. That’s this way.” Lina now stepped in front of Jane and they walked deeper into the cool forest.

Anna brought Kit back to her cell and let her walk back inside. Kit hopped up onto the bed and let out a heavy exhale. “So, you’ve been given the freedom to do what you want with me?” Anna nodded, then opened her mouth to say anything to justify that she didn’t want to hurt the girl, it was just her orders, when Kit did something strange. She reached down and grabbed the hem of her coat, and started tugging it upwards. Anna, taken slightly back by the strange display, just stared. Kit looked over, annoyance flashing in her eyes. “Well? I’d rather get this over with quickly so give me a hand here.”

Anna walked into the cell and lowered Kit’s arms, pulling her hoodie back over her head. “What are you doing?”

Kit shrugged, “Well I don’t know how you guys work, but usually with humans, when someone is given control over another person, they usually and have sex with that person.”

Anna didn’t say anything for a bit, the two just staring at each other. “I- don’t get offended at this, but frankly I don't want to have sex with you.” Anna stammered out.

Kit looked vaguely surprised, but finished tugging her hoodie back on. “What do you want then?”

Anna just sat next to her on the cell bunk. “Maybe...maybe we could just be friends.” Kit stared at her, then smiled quietly. “That sounds nice.” Once again the two lapsed into silence, but this time it felt comfortable. Anna didn’t have many friends. Actually, aside from Kit she didn’t think she had any. Captain Boleyn was always throwing her long, sad looks and Lieutenant Parr had always lingered near her, when she’d been alive that is. And Queen Seymour? No one could really claim the title of being her friend, except maybe Captain Boleyn. But every so often Anna would catch her Majesty just watching her, with a distant expression. It was so unfair. They knew so much about her, but Anna? Even if she searched through the depths of her memory, clawed through the fog, and tried to hold on to any sense of recognition, she didn't know anything. Her memory was gone, and no one ever told her why.

_She was jostled awake, and once again she woke up disoriented. She still sat in the being’s palm, but now they stood over a forest overlooking the sea. “You’re lost. You shouldn't be here.” She stretched, yawned, then looked up at the being. However, now a second stood behind the first. They still had the same white hair and tanned skin, but this new being’s eyes were golden. The two were wearing the white tunics of children, and yet they looked nothing like children. The new being took her and lifted her up, showing her the massive expanse of stars overhead. “Out there. That is where you belong, little one.” She reached out, letting her hand blot out some of the stars and watched the ones that she could still see dance around her fingers. She was lowered and she made a small, unhappy noise in the back of her throat. The first being laughed. “Ever the explorer. Now child, we must decide. Do you want to return?” she pondered this. Did she want to return? She could stay here, where it was ever so warm and nice. Where she was safe, where no one could touch her. She could look at the stars all she wanted, she could run among the trees, she could sleep without fear. But something was missing. She made a light keening noise and choked out the name the first being had given her. “True.” The second being murmured. “She is not here. She will not join you for a long while. She has a bigger destiny to fulfill.” She tilted her head, trying to ask, ‘and I didn’t?’ “Of course you had a destiny my child,” the first being cooed. “But that road is one of pain and fear and hurting. Are you sure you want to return to it?” She wasn’t sure. Maybe she should just stay here. These two would take care of her, love her. Maybe it was worth it to stay. She looked back up at the stars. And yet maybe it was better to go. She clambered up the second being’s arm and tugged on their sleeve. They laughed. “Ah, nothing can keep your curiosity at bay for long, little scholar?” She beamed and shook her head. The beings lowered her to the ground. Suddenly she could see they were smaller, but they still towered over her enough as if she was a girl again and they were her parents. She ran back to them and hugged their legs tightly, clinging to the light, gauzy cloth and colourful sashes. They smiled and cooed over her before kneeling down. The first being patted her cheek and kissed her on the forehead. “Good luck my little scholar. Go.” The second being also pressed a kiss to her forehead and whispered, “You will always have a place in our arms. We love you, our little child.” She smiled, hugged them one last time, and turned tail, running off into the night. “How far will she make it?” the first being asked. “I doubt we will see her again for a long time. If we do though, her choice is always there.” the second being replied._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! Drop a comment and say hello! I really appreciate every single one i get, even if I don't reply to them haha  
> Anyway we'll get to the actual action soon. So sorry if this felt like a filler chapter


	8. Long Walks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lina and Jane start their journey. Anna and Kitty talk about the past and moving forward. Anne wishes for a more peaceful time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YALL I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. I was honestly a bit self-conscious about this one, cause i don't think it turned out great, especially about Catherine and Jane's part. But hey its out. Enjoy

Lina knew where she was going. It wasn’t easy to get lost when the only directions you needed were to go north. She let her mind wander as she walked, trying to ignore the heavy footfalls of her companion. She could still call back up all the stories her father would tell her, stories about the way the world was. How it used to be. An Earth Lina never got to be born into. Light rain drizzled over the pair, filtering through the trees and making the already gloomy atmosphere all that more depressing. Lina looked up at the grey sky, and groaned. Just as the unhappy noise left her, the sky opened and it started pouring. Lina looked behind her and noted that Jane also seemed to be uncomfortable with the sudden soaking. Her pointed ears were folded downwards against her head and she looked every inch a kicked puppy. Lina smirked, glad she wasn’t the only one suffering through the miserable weather. They walked in silence for hours, neither willing to be the first to break the tension. A few times Lina glanced back to make sure Jane was still following, but Jane never looked back at her. She would simply stare around at everything, like she was seeing the world for the first time. ‘She probably was’ Lina thought to herself. It made her think of all the times her father would take her on walks through the old destroyed cities when she was little. Catherine would tug on her father’s fingers and ask what the old signs that crumbled with age said. Her father would always chuckle and shake his head, explaining they were the names of old businesses and stores that were long gone now. She remembered wandering through the abandoned buildings with the exact same look on her face that Jane had now. The same curiosity, masked with a bit of apprehension and fear.

The pair had been walking for some time now, when Lina finally started looking for a place to stay the night. It wasn’t hard to find an abandoned barn, one of many sitting half-destroyed in the darkened fields. Jane gave the place a skeptical look, as if she wasn’t sure the building could stand through a harsh gust of wind. Lina honestly had the same reservations, but it was their best option. They headed inside, closing the heavy double doors behind them. As Catherine started clearing herself a place to sleep in the broken building, she heard a quiet shuffling sound from outside. At first she thought it was Jane, until she saw her staring at the door too, ears pricked towards the noise. The two glanced at each other, then simultaneously stood, moving quietly to the entrance. Lina pulled her axe out and balanced it in two hands, and Jane flexed her claws, letting the green energy flow over them. Then, without warning, Jane kicked open the door. Both women were prepared for anything, except what was actually there. A deer was on the other side, eyes wild with panic, bleating and attempting to drag itself away. Lina gasped quietly as she saw the animal, noting that it was taking so long to run because of a mangled hind leg. As she bent down next to the terrified animal, she heard Jane mutter, “We should leave it alone.”

Confused, Lina turned back to look at her. “We can patch it up. It won't die if we help it.”

Jane huffed. “We can’t help it. We don’t have the time, or the resources to spare to help it. Best to leave it behind.”

Catherine shook her head. “We can’t just leave it to die!” “And we can't spare the time to help it.” Lina turned away from Jane, looking back to the deer. Sighing, she pushed herself up to her feet and turned back into the barn. “Maybe I can find something for it.”

Lina was rummaging around in the pack Jane had brought, trying to find bandages, when a sharp retort sounded outside. Images of raiders and screaming flashed through her mind. She shook her head to get rid of the thoughts, but the afterimages of flames still liked at the edges of her vision. Racing back outside, she half expected Jane to either be surrounded by bodies or be face down in the mud. Instead Jane stood over the body of the deer, a still glowing blaster gripped tightly in her hand. Lina choked, then glared at Jane. “We could have helped it! Or saved it! There was no need to kill it!”

Jane just shoved past her, snarling as she did. “You can’t save everyone. If you try to play the hero all the time and make life happy for everyone, no one gets a happy ending.”

Lina grabbed Jane’s shoulder as she brushed past and threw her into the side of the barn. Jane hissed at her and grabbed her wrists. “What is your problem?” Lina spat, anger clouding her vision. “It’s not hard to just patch it up and send it on its way!”

Jane shoved Lina back and disappeared into the building, throwing over her shoulder, “Go ahead. Be a hero. Watch yourself fail. You can’t save everyone. Believe me.” Catherine stared at the place Jane had been for a couple seconds even after she was gone. Eventually she walked inside and saw Jane curled up in one of the corners of the barn. She had her tail wrapped around her like she was a cat and Lina could just barely see her chest rising and falling. For a moment, Lina considered waking her up and asking her what she meant when she said to believe her. But the desire to keep her hand, and not disturb her companion, stopped her. Instead she retrieved the deer’s body and set about working with it. No sense in letting anything go to waste.

Anna was showing Kit around the ship when Kit had asked her the question. “Why did you want to be my friend?” Anna had jerked to a stop, right in front of Kit who bumped into her and stumbled back. Anna stared at her feet. Why did she want Kit as a friend? She was supposed to be emotionless. Empty. Nothing. That's what He told her she was.

Anna shrugged. “I just did.” Anna could feel the dissatisfaction radiating from Kit at her vague answer.

After about 10 minutes, Kit tried again. “Seriously, I thought the rashadi hated humans?”

Anna turned around and sighed. “Maybe we do. I don’t know. I don’t remember.” Kit stared at her, both women standing in the middle of a corridor, just watching each other.

Kit broke the stare first. “I don’t remember much either. I just woke up in a colony one day, and-” Kit cut off suddenly, as if the words physically pained her to think about. “Catherine found me and now I’m here.”

Anna listened to Kit’s meager story, then replied, “Captain Boleyn keeps telling me who I should be. But I don’t know if that’s who I actually am.”

Kit listened to Anna’s confession, then replied, “Maybe...maybe we can try and make new memories together.”

Anna tilted her head, confused. “What do you mean?”

Kit waved her hand vaguely, “We could try and create our own experiences and make new memories. We can’t get back our old ones, so let's replace them.”

Slowly Anna nodded. “Okay. let's make new memories. Together.”

Anne leapt off the edge of one of the metal sheets plating the outside of the rashadi ship. Long claws dug into the plating and a voice in the back of her mind mentioned that the stuff she damaged would have to be replaced before she could leave. Anne didn’t care. She kept climbing. The ship was long and shaped almost like a diamond, but a little longer in the back. Two long tube-like thrusters rose from the back, and were what Anne was currently scaling. It was shorter than it looked, but it didn’t make it any easier to climb as Anne was discovering now. She finally scrambled up to the top and perched up on the highest point of the ship. Swinging her legs over the peaked edge of the thrusters, she gazed out at the surrounding trees.

Reaching down into the front of her armor, she pulled out a small necklace she’d been hiding. Turning the cool metal over in her palm, she inspected the gold for any flaws. To her satisfaction, no scratches or dents marred the surface. The familiar weight comforted Anne and she sat staring at the symbol in her palm. Closing her eyes she let herself drift back to when she’d gotten it. _“Annie you have to promise you won't laugh.”_

_Anne smiled at her girlfriend, before pulling her close and smiling gently. “I won't laugh, now tell me what it is I’m curious!” Cathy chuckled as she removed herself from Anne’s arms, and pulled something out from a pocket. Anne stared at her closed fist, excited for whatever was to come next. Cathy opened her fist and a small gold necklace glinted up at her. Anne gasped slightly and picked up the small bit of jewelry off her girlfriend’s palm. The mark of Eoseli was emblazoned on the front and Anne was reminded of a similar piece of jewelry she’d given Cathy so many years ago. “Cathy is this for me?”_

_Cathy rolled her eyes. “No it's actually for Anna and I wanted your opinion on it.”_

_Anne threw a hand up to her forehead in a mock faint. “Such betrayal! And here I thought we had something.”_

_Cathy laughed and shoved Anne away before smiling up at her and whispering, “Just, come home safely, alright?”_

_Anne kissed the top of Cathy’s head, then ruffled her hair between her horns. “I’ll always come home to you.”_ Anne stared up at the stars, tears once again streaming down her face. “I came home to you.” She choked, “Why couldn’t you come home to me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man I miss Cathy.


	9. Memories Bring Back Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne, Anna, and Kit look back on Homeworld. Lina hatches a Plan. Jane receives a call from her beloved. She is tired

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! This was a fun one to write! I hope this lives up to everyone's expectations, cause it took me a while to get through parts of it, but I think it turned out alright. Also I got a anonymous comment that the fic was hard to read cause of the "Walls of Text" feel, so whoever that anon was, I hope this makes it easier for you to read and I'm sorry for it being too hard before. I'll try and format it more like this from now on. Hope you enjoy!

Jane didn’t speak as Lina busied herself with cleaning up their makeshift camp. A couple times she saw the human glance over at her, but Jane just sat in the corner, tail wrapped tightly around herself. Forcibly, she tried to relax her tail and let it just lay flat. Curling it around yourself in times of stress was for children. Hissing to herself, she forced her tired limbs to move as she stood and moved to the door. She noticed that Catherine refused to look at her. Frankly she didn’t mind. The less time Catherine spent glaring at her the better. As they headed out again, Jane once again tried to distract herself with the scenery. Homeworld was a desert planet, and Jane had never seen so much green before. Plants carpeted every inch on the ground here, alternating between huge trees and creeping shrubs. The other things that amazed her? All the water. Back on Homeworld, water was scarce. Here on Earth, water seemed to be everywhere. Hell it fell from the sky which bewildered her. After a few hours, Jane realized they seemed to be heading in the wrong direction. “Catherine.” Catherine kept walking, pointedly ignoring her. “Catherine!” Jane heard the other woman make a noncommittal noise, which Jane took to mean that she’d heard her. “We’re not heading directly north anymore.”

“Look, who knows the lay of the land better, you? Or me?” 

Jane conceded that point to Lina, but continued, “Are you sure you know where you’re going?”

Catherine rolled her eyes, then spat, “Of course I do.” But to Jane’s later satisfaction, she noted Lina had corrected her course like she’d suggested.

Kat woke up early like she always did. Well she was pretty sure she woke up early anyways. The passage of time felt strange on the ship. Almost like being in an airport at 2 am, or being at a school at night. A place where time became fluid. After a few minutes had passed, Anna came to collect her. Kit still wasn’t sure why Anna wanted to be her friend. She’d offered her a chance, but something in the back of Kit’s mind whispered that Anna would just use her and leave her like everyone else. As Anna led her back down a now familiar corridor, the pair almost physically ran into Anne. The Captain looked as if she hadn’t slept, and Kit didn’t blame her. Anne cocked an eyebrow at the two of them. “What’s the prisoner doing out of her cell?” 

“Exercise ma’am.” the two rashadi stared at each other and Kit could practically taste the tension in the air. 

But Anne eventually broke her gaze from Anna’s and just sighed. “I don’t care if you’re taking your new pet on a walk. Just keep her out of sight.”

Anna nodded stiffly. “Yes ma’am.” as Anne brushed past, Kit could feel Anna relax as she was out of sight. Deciding not to comment on it, she followed the soldier into a room that she’d been shown yesterday. The record room.

As Kit and Anna walked into the room, Kit looked around at the metal shelves lining the walls. They looked almost like a honeycomb, but instead with circles, and each little opening had a small round-cornered cube that flickered and glowed with different coloured lights. Anna wandered over to one of the cubbies and removed a cube. “I thought maybe, you’d want to see what my home looks like.” Kit barely caught the ending bit that Anna whispered, “Not that I know what it looks like either.” She watched the soldier set the cube down on the floor, then tapped the top face. 

The cube unfolded like a lotus blossoming and Kit watched, enraptured as a blue glow expanded and pictures appeared in the light. She stared as figures started to appear in the glow, they weren't quite clear, but Kit could make out the trademark horns and tails of the Rashadi. She could remember what Anna had told her about this place earlier. That sometimes Rashadi could record their memories and leave them in these containers to be studied later. Most of the time they were for military purposes. However, sometimes they contained more mundane, yet special memories.

Tearing her eyes away from the images, she looked across at Anna, whose face was awash with the blue light. The expression on the soldier’s face was so melancholy that Kit could feel it in her soul. She scooted over to sit next to the other woman and said nothing. The two sat in silence for a while, then Kit asked, “Why?”

“Hmm?” Anna didn’t look away from the images which had gotten clearer now. Kit could make out children running and laughing and playing. One looked ever so familiar…

“Why are you doing this? Why let me out? Aren’t I supposed to be your prisoner?” she hesitated, then pushed forward. “Why befriend me?” Kit studied Anna’s face, looking for any betrayal of her inner thoughts. 

“I don’t know.” Anna still stared at the figures. Kit realized after a moment that she was watching the scene from someone’s point of view. The way the images shifted and the way it seemed to be “filmed” all made Kit feel like she was the person watching it happen. Anna sighed and continued on. “I don’t know. By all means I should be slamming the door shut on your cell and using you for target practice.” Kit flinched but Anna didn’t seem to notice. “But you feel...different. Everything about you contradicts what I’m programmed to be.” Anna looked down at her hands, tearing her eyes away from the images for the first time since they’d started playing. “I have this, grudging respect for you. You’re a fighter, but you fight for something you believe in. I don’t get that luxury. I don’t know what I believe in.”  
Kit took one of Anna’s hands. The skin was soft and warm to the touch and Kit rubbed her thumb over the back of Anna’s palm. “What do you mean by programmed?” Anna opened her mouth to reply, when the door hissed open. Both women jumped apart faster than was probably possible. Anne stood in the doorway, looking haggard. Kit watched as Anne walked in, and sat down, staring at the glowing images. 

“Pulling out my memories of Homeworld?” the captain asked.

Anna shrugged, “Most accurate.” she tersely replied.

Kit watched the tense interactions between the two. Something else was going on beneath the surface, she just couldn't figure out what. Then the memory shifted suddenly, and Kit could make out familiar figures. One with nubbed horns, another with sloped back horns, and a third who looked strangely familiar. Cathy and Jane, she realized, but who was the third figure? She had horns like Jane’s, but they were black instead of light grey. She was wearing a red shawl that looked like it lengthened into a cloak in the back. The girl also had dark skin and black hair. A lot like Anna’s. Eerily like Anna’s. Anne seemed to be friends with the others and the memory showed them laughing and talking. Glancing back at Anna, she could see her staring intensely at the third figure. Looking back and forth between the two, Kit suddenly put together a realization. The child was Anna. but what had happened to her horns? Present day Anna’s horns were like deer antlers, whereas past Anna’s horns were smooth and didn’t branch out. Something bigger was going on here, something Kit didn’t understand yet. 

As she looked back again to the children, she could make out Anne’s face through the light. Tears were streaming down her face, but she had a stoic expression that didn’t crack even under the deluge of emotion. Kit sighed. Everything was just so broken. And she had no idea how to help, or even if she could. She scooted back to Anna, and took her hand again. Anna squeezed it lightly, and the three sat in the quiet again. The only sounds were of Anne’s soft crying and Anna’s heavy, choked breathing.

Jane’s feet were growing tired. She didn’t speak up about it though. Complaining would show weakness, and Jane was anything but weak. Something buzzed in her pocket, and she paused in her stride, making Lina look back at her in exasperation. “What is it now?” Catherine snarled.

Jane didn’t spare her a glance, simply pulling out the small hand-held hologram emitter. “Can you give me some privacy?” Catherine shrugged and wandered some distance away. Jane walked in the opposite direction, and put the small device on the ground, watching the green light expand and glow until it created an image. Jane flinched slightly as Henry’s angry face stared down at her. His arms were crossed and he was tapping his foot rapidly against the floor. He stared down at her, one eyebrow cocked at an angle as if he had been waiting a while. “Henry, love, I’m sorry I’m a little busy right now can we reschedule this?”

Henry scoffed, “Too busy for your husband? Jane dearest, I thought I was the most important thing in your life?” Jane winced under the scrutiny and quickly tried to amend her mistake.

“You are the most important thing beloved! That’s why I want to wait a little while to give you my undivided attention.” Jane hoped Henry would buy her excuse, at least for a little while. 

Henry’s anger didn’t seem to abate however, only seeming to grow in intensity. “If I really am important to you, then why are you pushing me off?” 

Jane worried at her lower lip, before replying in a small voice, ”I can make time right now beloved.”

Henry grinned, “Wonderful. How are the preparations for the harvest going? I assume my best officer is performing as well as always.” Jane preened under the compliment, filing it away to make sure she didn’t forget it.

“The preparations are going well, Earth has many...interesting resources to return to Homeworld.” 

Henry smiled and Jane was reminded of just how charming her husband really was. Sure sometimes he got angry, but usually he was kind and sweet to her. “Now sweetheart,” he continued, “You have been keeping yourself away from Boleyn correct?” 

Jane looked down at the ground, not meeting his gaze, “She is my right hand, I do need to speak to her and interact with her. She’s still family-”

Henry cut her off, his anger returning as quickly as it had abated. “I told you not to talk to her. She’s bad news.” He watched her with wide eyes and Jane could see the tears beading up at the corner of his eyes. “Is she more important to you than me? I-I understand if she is. She’s family after all. I just thought…” Henry trailed off, letting the sentence hang unfinished.

Immediately Jane tried to work damage control. “No, no beloved you’re the most important thing, I just need her assistance for the harvest. Boleyn means nothing to me.” She could still feel her teeth worrying at her lower lip. Jane winced slightly as her sharp canines slipped and cut right through her lip. She could taste the blood that tasted ever so coppery on her tongue.

Henry’s eyes searched her face, a watery smile playing across his face. “If you’re sure beloved… Just be careful on this mission, we wouldn’t want another Erlken fiasco!” Jane suddenly found the ground incredibly interesting. “Oh sweetheart I’m just joking.” Henry’s smile became a little more real, “You ought to smile more dearest, you don’t look as pretty without one.” Jane forced herself to look up and give him a quiet smile. He cooed approvingly, then said, “I must be going now my love, don’t disappoint me.” He blew her a quick kiss and once again was gone before he could hear the quiet, “Love you.” That Jane murmured.

Lina didn't catch all of the conversation, but she heard a few key points. Like the “Harvesting”. That certainly didn’t sound good. And whoever Jane had been talking to sounded worse. Catherine had dealt with people in the wastelands who tried to get you to stay with them by locking you down in guilt. This sounded an awful lot like that. _‘You don’t seriously feel sorry for her right?’_ the voice in her head wondered, _‘it’s not your problem, and you really shouldn’t care, she’s your captor.’_ Lina supposed the voice was right. It really wasn’t her place to butt into matters that didn’t concern her. But as Jane walked out from behind the tree, she looked so quietly broken, Lina wanted to rush up to her and give her a hug. But something stopped her. Jane had said back at the barn how “you can’t save everyone”. What did that mean? Lina decided against trying to comfort Jane, if she was going to be pessimistic about help being given and received, then it wasn’t Lina’s business to try and change her mind. She was still curious about how that mindset had come on. 

Jane didn’t speak for a long while and Lina wasn’t about to push her companion into holding a conversation. Catherine looked up at the slowly setting sun, remembering what her father had told her years ago. _‘Never forget, the sun never truly travels East to West here. All you can trust is where the ocean lies.’_ Lina knew where they were headed, in fact she knew exactly where they were headed. Off course. She only felt a little bad for lying to Jane, not that she didn’t know where she was going, she just knew where she didn’t want to go. The Ast Ria Column. Her father had told her many many times to stay away. Lina knew first hand how dangerous the column could be, those who went, didn’t come back. So she was leading them off track, not because she cared about Jane, but because frankly, she didn’t want to die. Catherine knew it was dishonest, but the more she thought it over, the more she didn’t care. If she could zig-zag the path they were taking enough, it would buy her time to come up with a decent plan to get the rashadi off the planet.

As Lina was congratulating herself on her plan, a strange smell drifted past her nose, glancing back behind her, she could tell Jane had smelled it too. The woman looked almost like a wolf looking for its prey, with her ears tilted slightly downwards and her tail lashing furiously behind her. Lina carefully removed her axe and twisted it in her hands, looking for the danger, when it clicked in her mind what that scent was. An all too familiar one. As she turned to yell at Jane what was happening, a huge shape slammed out of the trees and directly into Catherine. She barely had time to scream.

_She was running, her feet felt like they could carry her for miles and never tire. Until they did. She felt fatigue creeping up on her. She paused in her stride, feeling the warmth she had been experiencing before slowly draining out of her. As she slumped down against a tree, a blinding shot of pain cracked through her head. Whimpering, she clutched her temples with clawed hands. As her fingers trailed downwards, she felt a harsh raised scar like a half moon around the front of her neck. Pulling her fingers away from it, she could see the amber gold blood still staining her flesh. She made a high pitched keening noise. Perhaps it wasn’t worth it to return. Whoever the mysterious figure in her mind was, they could wait. All she wanted to do was to go back to the loving arms of the beings, to return to the stars, and feel nothing. She curled up beneath the tree she was leaning against, and softly cried herself into a fitful sleep._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope Jane's conversation with Henry came across as how it was supposed to be read as. I drew on resources from multiple websites, and some of my own personal experiences with the same matter I tried to cover. Please tell me if something didn't come across correctly! Thank you for reading.


	10. Cat Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hemorrhagic shock is one hell of a drug. Kitty may be just a bit in over her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I edited this at 21:00 in the car. I'm so fucking tired y'all I hope this is up to standard haha  
> Sorry this chapter is so late, life stole my fucking left shoes and ate them. So I ended up procrastinating this a bit. Whoops!
> 
> ATTENTION  
> THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS REFERENCES TO BLOOD, DEATH, AND SYMPTOMS OF HEMORRHAGIC SHOCK. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ IT, YOU MAY CONSIDER GIVING THIS CHAPTER A MISS.

Catherine’s fear-addled and oxygen deprived brain noted four things. One, whatever was on her was really heavy and making it just a bit hard to breathe. Two, it was really fuzzy, like a giant cat. She giggled at the thought. Three, her arms and back felt numb and kind of fuzzy. Fuzzy. Just like the huge kitty! Four, Jane was running away. That was strange, why wouldn’t she want to come and see the kitty with Lina? Admittedly, Lina would rather not have the cat on her back, and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. As the weight shifted off her back, she heaved in a huge breath. Oxygen rushed back to her brain and the world snapped back into frightening clarity. Her mind’s first and incredibly helpful thought?  _ ‘Mountain lion’  _ then,  _ ‘I’m going to die’ _

Jane raced away from the human and the large cat, sprinting as fast as she could. She could leave her. It wouldn’t be hard. Lina had said the column was north, how hard could it be to walk north on her own? But something made her slow her pace and look back over her shoulder. She saw Catherine weakly grabbing for her axe, trying desperately to throw the beast off her back. It wasn’t worth it. Lina was a goner. She couldn’t be saved. Survival first, show no weakness. Her own survival was more important at this point and it would be a weakness to try and save someone with no chance. If Lina couldn’t be saved, then why was Jane finding her feet carrying her back to her? Well she could at least try and see what she could do. Not that Jane cared if the human lived or died, it was just for her own conscience. That was it.

She raced across the dewy grass, took aim, and leapt. Jane crashed full force into the huge cat, rolling with it and dragging the creature off of Lina. She winced as huge paws slammed into her, hooked claws finding purchase in her sides. Growling, Jane dug her own claws into the side of the lion’s head, twisted her spine around, and slammed its head into the ground. The creature let out a bone-chilling scream and attempted to lunge upwards for her neck as it dragged its claws down along her sides. Jane’s eyes widened in surprise and pain and she jumped away to make sure she wasn’t brutally eviscerated. Glancing to the side, she saw that Lina had dragged herself to one of the nearby trees and had propped herself up against it. Her monetary concern had cost her though, and Jane was caught by surprise as the huge cat pounced and slammed into her. 

Teeth met in her shoulder and she screamed in shock and pain. Blinking back tears, she dug her claws into the shoulders of her assailant and kicked at its belly. Jane felt the thud of her boots meeting soft flesh and grinned tiredly. The lion kept its tight grip on her shoulder and tried to throw her away from it, but Jane clung fast to the creature’s shoulders. As the mountain lion blinked in surprise at the stubbornness of its prey, Jane surged upwards and slammed her claws into the side of the lion’s neck. She winced slightly as sticky warm blood ran down her forearm. She felt the teeth in her shoulder slacken and she maneuvered her way out of its jaws. Checking over the body of the huge cat, she thought she saw something that looked like shards of amber glass embedded in its neck. Jane frowned and started to look closer, when she heard a small pained noise coming from behind her. She stood shakily and dropped down next to Lina. “Are you hurt?” 

Shakily Catherine nodded, shrugging her flannel off a shoulder and turning her back to reveal deep claw marks in her flesh. Jane sucked in a breath through her teeth, “We should probably get that treated.” she moved to take Lina’s flannel off completely, “you won’t wanna get that stuck in the wound as it’s healing.”

As Jane started pulling Lina’s flannel off of her shoulders, Lina grabbed her wrist, laughing. “Woah, I’m not really wearing much under this, at least buy me dinner first.” Jane pushed Lina’s hands off of her and continued to work the over shirt off the human’s body. Slowly but surely, Jane carefully pulled the blood soaked flannel off of Lina’s body. As she moved to throw it to the side, Lina squeaked and grabbed the shirt, hugging it close to her chest.

“That’s unsanitary. We should get rid of it.” Jane muttered bluntly, Lina just held it closer to herself. Jane couldn’t bring herself to make her get rid of it, not when she was clinging to it like it could disappear if she even let go for a second. “Come on, we have to find you some medical supplies to help make sure you don’t die on me.”  
Catherine giggled, then snorted as she laughed. “Yooou care about meee.” She poked Jane in the nose and Jane reared back. 

“No! I don’t! It would just be inconvenient if you died, since I’d have to find a new guide.” Jane didn’t realize how flustered the human’s comment had made her until she realized the heat in her cheeks was actually her blushing.

Lina threw her head back and giggled again. “There’s a hospital northeast of here. We can go there!” Grinning, she looked back at Jane. Jane sighed and stood before reaching down and hefting the human onto her back along with her axe. The coppery scented blood was matted into her hair from where Catherine was laying against her. The strange red colour was fading, being replaced by a tarnished brown. As Jane started walking northeast, she felt Catherine lean forward, and whisper in her ear, “You smell nice.” It was muttered so softly, Jane wasn’t even sure she’d heard it at first. As she trekked through the undergrowth, she tried to stop herself from being distracted by it. It was a simple compliment, nothing more.

As the memory ended, Kit watched Anne walk over, tap the face of the cube, and pick it up. Anne returned it to the cubby it had been retrieved from, took a moment to wipe the tear tracks from her face, then turned and left the room. Anna continued staring at the space where the glowing screen had once been. “Anna?” Anna didn’t move. “Anna.”Kit tried getting her attention again, a little more forcefully. This time Anna seemed to shake herself, and turned to look at her. “Anna, was that you? In the memory?” 

Anna shrugged. “I don’t recall.” 

Kit frowned. “So there's nothing at all you remember?”

“I remember snow, ice, the cold. Not much else before that.” Anna fiddled with the hem of her waist cape. “Commander Seymour tells me I was knocked unconscious, but I don’t think that's what happened.” She sighed and looked as if she was debating with herself whether to keep talking or not. After what seemed like an eternity, Anna continued her story. “Commander Seymour said she found me in the aftermath of a battle. Some ice planet called Erlken or something. She said I’d been knocked unconscious but when I was being taken to the medical bay, I saw where I’d been laying. You don’t lose that much blood and get up again.”

Chewing on her lower lip, Kit muttered, “But you can’t have died, you’re still alive.”

Anna nodded, “Afterwards, I was sent back to this planet called Homeworld. Apparently it’s my home planet. But I was sent there for reconditioning.” Kit was about to ask about what happened during the reconditioning, when her stomach growled. Anna laughed under her breath, then said, “We should get you back to your quarters. Get you something to eat.” Kit didn’t complain, she was pretty hungry. As the two walked back, Kit started forming a plan. If she could find all instances of Anna in those cubes, she could try and map out what had happened leading up to the memory loss. And possibly the mysterious events that had happened on whatever planet Erlken was.

As Anna left after locking her back in her cell, Kit didn’t expect to see Anne pass by her cell, then stop. Before Kit could say anything, Anne beat her to it. “Be careful around Lieutenant Cleves. If you get damaged, Commander Seymour will have my head.”

Kit tilted her head in confusion, “Aside from the fact that she kidnapped me, she’s the only one around here who’s been kind at all, and you confuse me. Why should I listen to what you have to say?”

Anne shrugged, “You don’t have to. But from my own personal experience, returned are volatile and violent. As she walked away, Anne threw one last comment over her shoulder. “I don’t care if you believe me or not. I just gotta make sure you don’t get killed so my commanding officer doesn’t kill me.” 

“Wait, what are returneds?” Kit called after her.

Anne didn’t turn back around. “Come on kid, you’re smart. I can tell you think of us as your big puzzle. You can figure this out.”

Kit kept calling after Anne, demanding her captor return and explain herself. Even after Anne was long gone, Kit still shouted after her. She sat down heavily on the floor and hugged her knees to her chest. Maybe she was in a little deeper than she thought.

Jane was tiring quickly. Her own wounds were slowly closing up, but the bite on her shoulder was still sore and oozing golden blood. Catherine was still on her back, and was mumbling something that Jane couldn’t quite discern. As she crested what she hoped was the final hill, Jane saw a group of buildings in various states of decay. One of the buildings seemed to be in better shape than the others and Jane cautiously made her way down the hill and towards the building entrance. “J-Jane?” Jane felt more than heard Catherine mumble her name. Being fully concentrated on getting down the rather steep hill, she made a little noise of affirmation instead of a full reply. “Jane, where are we?”

Jane huffed in frustration, “We’re taking you to get medical attention.”

Lina’s breathing was rapid and panicked against the back of Jane’s neck, “No, no I don’t wanna go to the hospital.” She squirmed and Jane could feel Lina’s clammy hands pushing against her back. Jane frowned, were humans supposed to feel this cold? “I don’t wanna go. Please don’t make me go…” there was a small thud sound behind Jane and she turned around to see that Catherine had pushed herself off of Jane’s back and was curled up on the ground.

Jane sighed and picked up Catherine again, this time holding her close to her chest. “You have to go, your injuries could get infected if you don’t and I don’t need you dying just yet.”  
She waited for a snarky remark, a sarcastic comment, anything at all, but instead she just got silence. Looking down at the human in her arms, Jane saw that Lina had buried her face into her chest and was crying quietly. Lina was pale as a sheet and looked so small and tired. A complete turn around from the strong and stubborn human she’d started the journey with. Lina heaved and sobbed into Jane’s chest,“I don’t wanna go, I don’t wanna go, I can’t go, don’t make me, please don’t make me,” Jane choked slightly at the heartbreaking display as Lina continued her panicked muttering, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please don’t.”

Jane almost felt sorry for taking advantage of Lina’s shaken state, but she asked, “Why don’t you wanna go?”

“T-they took Bella. I don’t wanna go, I don’t wanna die either, please…”

“Who’s Bella?”

“My sister, please stop, I don’t wanna go.”

“What happened to her?”

Lina hiccuped and clung to Jane, “They said they were gonna fix her, they were gonna help her and protect her. But they didn’t, they wanted to know why she knew the things she did and they took her apart.”

Jane frowned, “Who are they?”

“The white coats, PLEASE I CAN’T GO BACK.”

Jane was standing in front of the double doors to the hospital, debating whether to take Catherine in or not. On the one hand, Catherine was still bleeding heavily and getting blood all over her chest plate and front. On the other, Catherine looked so miserable and scared, Jane almost felt bad for her. After a moment of internal debate, Jane pushed the doors open and walked inside.

Lina wailed, and the sound made Jane think of a fatally wounded animal. After a few moments of searching, she found a room with a bed on one wall and laid Lina down on it. Jane walked back out of the room and wandered around until she found a storage room with gauze and bandages along with a grey blanket she decided to bring along. When she returned, Lina was curled up, hugging her knees to her chest. Carefully, Jane helped Lina sit up then slowly removed her blood stained tank top. Using the gauze and some of the water she still had, Jane slowly started to clean Catherine’s wounds. Catherine didn’t respond, simply staring glassy eyed at her lap. Eventually Jane started wrapping the bandages around Lina’s chest and back, making sure the claw marks were covered. Catherine felt like a china doll in Jane’s hands. Like at any moment, she could just shatter. 

Jane finished wrapping the injuries, and handed Catherine the blanket. “I’m going to go and find some clothes that aren’t covered in blood. I’ll be back.” Lina looked much too tired to argue, instead just laying down, letting the blanket cover her, and facing the wall. Once again, Jane wandered through the half destroyed building, trying to find any scrap of clothing. She wasn’t surprised that she wasn’t finding any, Jane was pretty sure you couldn’t really find clothes in a hospital. As she rummaged through one of the drawers in yet another storage room, she found a box labeled “Extras”. Pulling it out, she found all sorts of different clothes inside and took a moment to just sift through them and marvel at how drastically different the clothes on Earth were from Homeworld. Jane found some she thought might fit Lina and picked up a few for herself, to maybe blend in a bit better.

When she got back to the small room, Lina was sleeping quietly, but she tossed and turned restlessly. Jane quickly changed into the spare clothes, tugging the thick jacket like thing over her head and trying to figure out what to do with her tail since the pants didn’t have any place to put it. She then frowned as she looked around the interior of the room. On one side, there was a counter with a mauve surface and a metal lined dip in the middle. A metal hook of some sort rose above it with two handles at either side of it’s base. Whatever the thing was, it made the counter top a no longer ideal place for sleeping. Realizing she probably wouldn’t fit in the small cushioned chairs in the corner, Jane swallowed her pride and instead curled up at the foot on the bed with Lina. Might as well get a few hours of sleep while they had a safe place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, hemorrhagic shock is one hell of a drug. Also, speaking from experience once again, mountain lions really do have a kinda distinct smell. Anyway, drop a comment, leave a kudos, say hi! I love hearing from y'all!  
> I'm sorry I don't reply much haha, I do mean to but I'm a tad forgetful...


	11. What's in a Past?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lina and Jane just can't seem to catch a break, be it emotionally, mentally, or physically. Kit and Anne have a chat about death. Anna remembers just what is truly important to her. Who is she?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. If you follow me on Tumblr, you'll know what's going on in my life. If you don't, well, the long and the short of it is that I'm stuck in my house with no real way to contact my friends or really anybody for that matter. Anyway, the only good part of that is I now have a lot more time to work on this fic. So, good and bad to come hand in hand.
> 
> ATTENTION  
> THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS REFERENCES TO CSA, DEATH, MIND CONTROL AND SPIDERS. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ IT, STOP READING AFTER THE SENTENCE, "But Bella never got to investigate it."

Lina felt like someone had hit her with a truck. Then backed over her again with said truck, lit her on fire, then dropped her from an airplane. To put it all in simpler terms, she felt like shit. As she blinked awake, she realized she had no idea where she was. Pushing the blanket she’d been covered with off of herself, Lina tried to get a better sense of her surroundings. Still drowsy, she tried to adjust to the low light in the room. As Lina’s eyes slowly adjusted, she noticed that she was no longer wearing her flannel. Worse, she was laying in a hospital bed. Immediately her brain kicked into panic mode. Wild eyed, she scratched at her shoulders, desperate for the comforting touch of the soft fabric. Lina’s breathing came ragged now, each inhale tearing through her. She didn’t have the energy to cry, she just felt numb, and hollow, and scared. The last little shreds of her that Lina still had, and it was gone. It was gone. It was gone. _ It was gone. It was gone. It- It was draped over the chair in the far corner.  _ Lina immediately moved to scrabble over to the stained flannel, when she saw Jane curled up at her feet. The sleeping woman reminded Lina of the cats who used to lay in rays of sun on old brick walls back home. Jane looked as if she’d tried to compress herself into the smallest amount of space possible.

Lina watched the sleeping woman for a beat, then grunted and shoved her off of her feet and onto the floor. Jane awoke with a screech, tumbling off the bed. Lina picked herself up, then stumbled over to the flannel. It was still coated in her own dried blood and made a crinkling noise as Lina hugged it close to her chest. Jane sat up, rubbing her head and groaning.

Lina turned on a heel, “What the fuck Jane?”

Jane stared up at Lina, eyes wide with shock and a tinge of fear. “I- we- What?”

Anger flashing in her amber eyes, Lina marched over to Jane and shoved her back down to the ground. “What the fuck? Why did you take us here?” She flushed, “And why was I half naked with you in bed?”

Jane immediately put her hands up. “Oookay. First off, that was a very bad way of phrasing that.” standing and dusting herself off, she continued, “Second, you were the one who told me this place was here! It was quiet, empty, and safe. We needed a place to stay while you literally bled out!”

Lina opened her mouth to retort that she was fine, but her head felt like it weighed 50 pounds. That seemed a bit unfair considering she’d slept more than she ever had in a while. She stumbled forwards, right into Jane’s arms. Jane easily caught her and helped her back over to the bed. Lina hoisted herself back up onto the edge of the mattress, then swatted Jane’s hands away. 

“You could’ve brought me anywhere but here, god even that barn we stayed in last night would’ve been better.” 

Jane huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t think that old barn would’ve had the necessary medical supplies to patch up your shoulder.” She frowned, “Speaking of which, we should probably change your bandages.” Jane moved to unwrap Lina’s shoulder, but Lina flinched away. Jane looked up at her like one would a naughty toddler, and Lina wanted to smack the expression off her face. Right after she took a nap though, who knew getting up could be so exhausting.

Jane reached forwards and grabbed Lina’s forearms, making her whine in annoyance. “Oh don’t be such a child. Come on.” Lina allowed herself to be led off the bed and to a nearby bathroom. “Here, is this more comfortable for you? We’re not in a tiny bedroom now.” 

Lina huffed. Honestly the bathroom wasn’t much better, considering she barely had enough room to stand without being pushed against Jane. “Yeah.” She said, her voice dripping in sarcasm, “This is great.”

Jane didn’t reply, instead opting to move Lina around until she was facing the wall. ”I’m gonna take the bandages off now, okay?” Lina nodded, biting her lip in anticipation. She braced her hands against the wall, and hissed as Jane started slowly unwrapping the bandages on her shoulder. Jane worked quickly and Lina leaned her forehead against the wall as she watched the blood soaked bandages fall to the floor. Lina heard Jane hum quietly under her breath, then she said, “Hey, these scratches go a lot further than I originally thought, could you take off your...uh” Jane trailed off. Lina, realizing what she meant straightened her back and slowly took off her bra, allowing Jane further access to the marred skin. She leaned against the wall again, bracing herself with an arm as Jane carefully began wrapping her shoulder back up, occasionally stopping when Lina winced in pain. 

After what felt like an eternity, Jane stepped back and Lina tugged her bra back on. She could feel Jane’s eyes on her, and she turned around and snapped, “What?”

Jane startled, then just turned away, refusing to meet Lina’s stare. “I was just curious, you don’t have to yell at me.”

“Curious about what?”

Jane gestured vaguely to Lina’s torso. “The, the thing. You know...what you’re wearing. I don’t know.”

Lina veugely realized what she was referring to. Awkwardly, she tugged at the hem of her sports bra. “Oh, do you not wear these on your planet?” Jane shook her head, still watching her with interest as if she was trying to soak up all the new information around her. Maybe she’d always been doing that, Lina just had never bothered to notice until now.

Lina and Jane started to head back to the small hospital room, Catherine leaning on Jane for support. “What time is it?” Lina murmured as she sat herself back on the bed. Jane stood on tiptoes to look out the small window. 

“It’s certainly not afternoon anymore. I guess we slept through the day.” she said.

Lina flopped down onto the bed dramatically. “Of course. We have to stay the night.” She hissed in pain as she rolled onto her injured shoulder. Jane sat next to her and drummed her fingers on her thighs. 

“Lina?”

Lina threw an arm across her eyes and made a small noise.

“Who’s Bella?”

Immediately she sat up. “How do you know about her?”

Jane shrugged, “You were saying a lot of things when you were delirious. You kept screaming about how the white coats took someone named Bella.” Jane said the words “white coats” almost like a question. As if she wasn’t sure how the words quite worked. 

Catherine gritted her teeth. “Bella is,  _ was,  _ my sister.” Sensing Jane wanted her to continue, she sighed and began her story.

“I was born into the aftermath of the wars. I never knew anything about the world before it was torn apart. It was just the three of us. Isabella, Joanna, and me. Our parents were stuck in the past, trying to cling to a world they never even lived in. So really it was Bella taking care of us.

“It’s hard trying to survive when all the people who’re supposed to take care of you all act like the world is ending. I guess for them the world really had ended. But for us? This was just the reality of life. You scavenged for any scraps of food you could find. You tried not to get hurt. Just a simple cut was a death sentence back then. It was like humanity had been plunged back to the stone age. Tensions were so high, honestly it's not a surprise what happened to Bella in hindsight.

“She never really did fit in with anybody else. She didn’t spend every waking hour trying to find her next meal, or find a safe place to stay. Instead Bella would spend hours dreaming and dragging me and my sister around to some crumbling building and just look for anything from pre-war times that was even remotely intact. She collected things. From old coins to tin cans. Some nights Jo and I would go hungry cause Bella wanted to chase after some trinket. We didn’t hold it against her. We all had our ways of coping with living in a literal post-apocalyptic wasteland. 

“Jo and I never thought twice about the trinkets, until they stopped being trinkets. We cared when Bella started bringing home large pieces of sheet metal or huge engine pieces. We cared when she stopped going with us to look for the next meal. I was six and Jo was twelve when Bella stopped feeding us. So Jo and I would go out and pick through the ruins of grocery stores and pray we found something. Our parents didn’t really care about us anymore. Sure we were their kids, sure they chose to have us in the middle of a wasteland, but they decided we weren’t worth the effort anymore. That and they didn’t want anything at all to do with Isabella. One day, Bella came home lugging a huge piece of scrap metal and was talking excitedly about something. She said she’d found a power source. Something huge that could help everyone. All the stuff she’d been collecting and dragging around all had clues to this one location. But Bella never got to investigate it.

“We had found some dry place to sleep that night. At the time we were still living further in-land, and Bella decided that we could stay in one of the hospital clinics that night. I don’t remember when it was, but I remember the screaming. Jo grabbed me and we were running, I don't know what from. There were all these voices, all yelling and shouting at once and it was so  _ damn loud. _ Jo and I tried escaping through one of the back doors but we kept getting lost and we couldn’t find Bella and a fire started somewhere and the smoke was so thick and I couldn’t breathe and Bella was gone and Jo let go of my hand and-” Lina was vaguely aware she’d started rambling and at some point she’d started crying again too. She scrubbed the tears from her face and tried to stop the unwelcome images from rushing back. “-Jo found an exit and we were trying to find Bella so we could get out of there, but she never came. We waited and waited and eventually she burst through one of the side hallways. I’d never seen her cry, or look scared before. She kissed me on the forehead, then draped her flannel over me and told me to stay warm and safe.

“Jo and I escaped, but the last time I saw Bella, these people in white coats were dragging her away deeper into the fire and she was screaming. I guess they wanted to know about the power source she’d found. We never talked about it again. After that, Jo was all I had. Our parents took us back in, mostly cause Bella wasn’t with us anymore. Jo and Dad didn’t get along well at all, and one day she ran away.” Lina laughed derisively, “As you can tell, my family isn’t the most functional one you’ll ever find.”

Jane stared at Catherine as she finished her story, unsure of what to say. Sure Jane had her own long history of a dysfunctional family, but she felt that starting her own story would detract from Catherine’s. So instead, she just whispered, “You’re a good storyteller.”

Lina smiled softly. “Thanks, I’ve got plenty of stories to tell.”

After a moment's deliberation, Jane asked, “What happened to Joanna?”

Catherine laughed, but it was a watery bitter laugh. “She ran off, looking for Bella’s mad ideas of a power source. She’s probably dead.” She reached into one of the flannel’s pockets, and withdrew a half-melted coin. The face Jane could see, read ‘Ast Ria’ the rest was melted beyond recognition. 

Jane blinked in surprise. “That’s where we’re headed, isn’t it?”

Lina nodded tiredly.

Jane studied Lina’s face. She could see the tired lines etched into it far too early. “You’re scared to go, aren’t you?”

Immediately Lina snatched the coin away and back into her pocket. “No. I’m not scared. You’re insane. I-”  
Jane’s ears twitched and she cut Catherine off. “Shut up.”

“Wha- Excuse me how dare you!”

Exasperated, Jane slammed a hand over Lina’s mouth. “I heard something.” Immediately the two women lapsed into silence. Jane’s ears flicked backwards, trying to discern where the sound was coming from. A loud clicking noise, almost like the footsteps of a giant insect, was coming from somewhere to their left. Jane leapt to her feet, her tail lashing and she was already tugging at Catherine’s hands. “We have to go. Now.” 

Bewildered, Lina tried to stand next to her, but dehydration, combined with an unhealthy amount of blood loss, made her head spin and she sat back down heavily. “I-I need a second.” 

Jane threw the coat she’d found in the extras box at Catherine. “We don’t have a second. I know what that thing is, and it's definitely not friendly.”

Lina tugged the coat on over her head, feeling Jane pull her out the door. “What is it?”

Grimacing, Jane dashed out the door, Lina in tow. “It’s called a Liren back on homeworld. We created them to hunt defectors. There’s absolutely no reason one should be chasing us now. We don’t have any traitors with us. It's just you and me.” The pair dashed around a corner and down a long hallway. Lina took over guiding them and she led them up a staircase towards the operating rooms.

Lina’s lungs screamed for air and she panted pitifully as Jane began to easily outpace her. Jane turned back, then grabbed the taller woman, threw her over her shoulder in a fireman’s carry, and kept going. Between wheezing breaths, Lina said, “Someday, I’ll be the one who has to carry you away from danger.”

She could practically feel Jane rolling her eyes. “Sure, when you can finally run more than half a mile without dying.” 

“That’s not fair, I haven’t actually drank water in like 4 hours.”

“Probably longer.”

The pair made their way across one of the long sky bridges to the other building. Jane found a room with strange, broken machines and a single bed in the center. “This looks good.” Jane unceremoniously dumped Lina on the floor, and Lina grumbled loudly as Jane started investigating the contents of the room. Lina found some old bottles of water, and before Jane could point out they were probably expired, she chugged the whole thing. Jane just sighed.

“What is this place?” Jane wondered aloud.

Lina wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Operating room probably.”

Jane kicked one of the toppled machines with a foot, yelping when she realized that her new human shoes weren’t quite as sturdy as her old boots. “The fuck is that thing?”

Laughing, Catherine laid back on the bed. “Do they not have Ekg machines back on your planet?”

Jane shook her head, nursing her sore foot. “No, most of our tech is geared towards the military. So we have really advanced space travel, weapons, and armor, but most of my people could live their whole lives without running water.” Jane didn’t bother to mention that until she’d never had running water either. That privilege was for the higher officers when she’d been a student at the military academy, and on the ships, water was tightly rationed in bottles or canteens. 

Lina frowned. “That’s messed up.”

“It’s how we work. Homeworld is a desert planet anyway, so all the resources we get have to come from off-world sites. Only a couple types of edible plants that naturally occur can survive there, so we have to import almost all our food and pretty much all water.”

Lina opened her mouth to ask Jane more questions about her home, when she heard the tearing of metal against metal. Both women immediately jumped up from where they were, staring intently at the floor. For the longest time, nothing happened. Then a huge foreleg of some creature pierce up through the linoleum tiles and behind it came the rest of a gargantuan metal monster. It looked almost like a giant metal spider, but dripping in some kind of black oil. Once again, Jane grabbed Lina’s hand, and the two sprinted out of the room as fast as they could, the loud, clacking, dripping thing close on their tail. 

Kit was having a great time. No scratch that. She’d been having a FANTASTIC time. Yep life was good. Nothing was wrong. She slid to the ground against one of the metallic walls. Anna had told her that she was being transferred away from the prison cells to a more central command and now her only guardian was none other than Captain Boleyn. Joy. Kit groaned as she lobbed one of her shoes at the green, holographic cell door again, watching the green energy spark and bodily throw the offending object back at her. She’d had nothing better to do anyway. Anne had locked her in here, only returning to give Kit food, and then bustling away. Kit wasn’t exactly sure what was happening, but with all the armed soldiers she’d seen, she was pretty sure something big was going down. 

Speaking of all the armed soldiers she’d seen, Kit had noticed one thing that stuck out to her. Almost none of the other rashadi had horns with multiple points. Rashadi who did have multi-pronged horns, like Anna, were treated as if they were invisible. In total, Kit had counted three rashadi including Anna out of the almost hundreds she’d seen who had the multi-pronged horns. What was even weirder to her, was the other two rashadi with multi-pronged horns only had one extra point, not the two extra Anna had. Kit for the life of her couldn’t puzzle out why.

Eventually, she tired of bouncing her shoes off the energy field and catching them again and Kit decided to wander around her cell. Once again, she noticed a set of air vents at the baseboard, and putting her hand to them, one seemed to be vacuuming air out, while another just had a light breeze in. Sitting back on her haunches, she tapped her lips with a finger. If air had to be transported in, that meant nothing could escape through the energy field. But if air had to be transported in, that meant she could find a way out via the same vents, right? Carefully she began to inspect the metal grating for any kind of flaws. 

Kit was so wrapped up in her task, she didn’t hear the cell door open or someone enter, until a familiar voice asked, “Find anything interesting?” Whirling around, she looked up into the face of Anne Boleyn. 

Kit shrugged. “You know, trying to keep myself occupied. How’s Anna doing with her transfer?”

Anne laughed, but there was no joy in the sound. Only a clear distaste for Kit. “You’re going to have to let go of her kid. She’s not going to be the same when,  _ if _ , she returns.”

“Is she going to die?”

“Maybe. But with her track record, I don’t even think that death would stop her from coming back and finishing whatever mad-cap task they’ve assigned her.”

Kit’s eyes grew wide. “But, death is it. You can’t come back from it. There’s no second chances.”

Anne walked over and sat down beside her. “Maybe for you humans, but for the rashadi, death is just an obstacle. An obstacle with many rules mind you.”

“Rules?”

“The rashadi as a people worship a pair of gods called The Twins. When a rashadi dies, they’re offered a second chance. Except that chance has a lot of technicalities and downsides. One, rashadi only get offered a second chance if they die in battle, or fighting someone. So that excludes accidental deaths, deaths from illness, or old age. And second, even if you get offered a second chance, that chance is made to sound as unappealing as possible. Why would you want to return to a world of pain when you can have eternal bliss?”

Kit looked down at the floor. At first she’d wanted to ask if rashadi had a second chance at life, then why would Anne mourn the loss of her wife. But as Anne kept explaining, she realized just why Anne wasn’t allowing herself to hope. There was no guarantee Lieutenant Parr had fallen in battle, or even if she’d even taken the chance to come back.

Anne carded her claws through her hair. “Plus, returneds are marked as unlucky, or even cursed. Rashadi are never naturally born with horns that have more than one point. It's a mark of death to have them.”

_ And if having an extra point to a horn meant that a rashadi had died, did that mean Anna had died twice?  _ Kit wondered to herself. Instead, she asked, “What did you mean different when we were first talking about how Anna had been sent away?”

Anne sighed, obviously uncomfortable with all the questions about her faith, but a little glad to have someone to talk to. “When you become a returned, you lose all your memories. Sometimes if The Twins are merciful, they give you the chance to get them back, but it makes them volatile. Well at least that's what his majesty says. So most returneds have to be, ‘re-calibrated’ for the first few years or so after they come back. And they’re never the same as they once were.” Anne cleared her throat, “C’mon kid, let's get you outside this cell for a bit, stretch your legs. You can ask more of your incessant questions.”

That all sounded good to Kit, maybe she’d even get a chance to see the record room again. As Anne stood, she put the palm of her hand against the small of Kit’s back. Kit immediately froze. Unbidden memories came flooding back to her. A man, tearing at her leggings, laughing. A man whispering sweet nothings into her hair as she cried. A man tugging at her ponytail. A man palming her still underdeveloped chest as he panted into her neck. Kit tore herself away from Anne, practically throwing herself to the otherside of the room, her breath coming in quick, panicked gasps. For the first time since she’d arrived on this goddamned ship, Anne looked actually worried for her. 

“Kid? Are you okay?”

Kit couldn’t answer, only clutching at her head as memories she’d buried came rushing back at that simple touch. Anne was calling out to her and she clung to the voice like a lifeline. Eventually as she dragged herself out of whatever hell she’d been locked in, Anne asked her what happened. 

What had happened? At first Kit wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to unsee those horrible images, but now said images were blurring and twisting into horrible feelings in the pit of her stomach. She knew however Anne had touched her had produced a visceral reaction from her body, but as the memories one again locked themselves away, she wasn’t sure why. But someone had touched her in a similar way before. She was sure of it.

“Kid? Aww shit if you’re broken Jane’s gonna put me six feet under…”

Quietly, she muttered, “I’m not broken, don’t call me broken.”

Anne put up her hands as if she was defending herself. “Hey, okay you’re not broken. But what the fuck happened?”

Kit shrugged. “I don’t know. I think I’ll stay here though. Don’t feel much like going on a walk anymore.” She could still feel herself shaking and she hated it.

Anne nodded backing out of the cell, still looking at Kit as if she was made of spun sugar and would shatter if the wind blew too hard. Kit hated that too. She wasn’t weak. There was nothing wrong with her at all. Right? 

Anna stared straight ahead at the wall of the hologram center. The soldier whose job it was to coordinate calls had put hers through, then left to give Anna her privacy. Anna tried not to rock back and forth on her heels. She wondered briefly if she’d done that as a child. Shaking her head, she tried to put such trivial thoughts out of her mind. As she did so, the huge, holographic figure of a man appeared in front of her. 

“Ah, Lieutenant Cleves. Are you prepared for your first session since leaving homeworld?”

Anna nodded stiffly.

The man, who wore a simple golden circlet over his auburn hair and a long royal purple cape, smiled and reached out his hands. Anna did her best not to shudder as she could feel the man’s touch even through the projection. 

“You are nothing. You are only a foot soldier. You will follow orders. I am all that matters now.” he intoned

At first Anna fought it. She always did. Always… had there been a before? No that couldn’t be right. There was no before. There was only this man. He was everything. “I am nothing.” Anna droned. “I am just a foot soldier. I will follow orders. You are all that matters now.” 

The man smiled. “Good girl. I’m proud of you.”

Anna preened under the compliment. The man was proud and that was all that mattered. She would make him happy.   
“Brace yourself girl, this part may hurt just a bit.”

That confused Anna. the man would never hurt her. And yet her body seemed to prepare for something her mind forgot. As Anna puzzled over that mystery, she was blindsided by an immense amount of pain. Biting her lip, she choked back a scream. She doubted the man would like it if she screamed. Once again the world narrowed down to just her and the man. He smiled. 

“I am everything.”

“You are everything.”

“Good girl.”

_ The woman wasn’t sure how long she’d lain there. Perhaps it was but a moment. Perhaps it had been years, millennia even, and the world had moved on without her. She pondered the possibility, but brushed it away. As she stretched and stood, she felt something slam into her mind. The name. The mysterious name. Perhaps the owner of this name could tell her what she most wanted to know. She began wandering through the trees. As she walked, she could’ve sworn she heard something behind her. Whirling around, she came face to face with another person. A- a human. Her brow creased. How did she know that? The human frowned at her. “Who are you?” they asked. She didn’t know. Perhaps if she just said anything, the human would go away. The human shifted into a rashadi, and asked again, “Who are you?” She was bewildered. Maybe she was going insane. Did she even have a mind still to lose? “Who are you?” “Who are you?” the voices chanted and jeered at her. Clapping her hands over her ears, she whined in frustration. “Who?” “Who?” “Who?” Finally she couldn’t take it. She swept her arms around her, dispelling all the voices and images. She shouted up at the sky,  _ “I AM CATHERINE PARR AND-”  _ her voice broke,  _ “I’m scared.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh I feel like this is a bit info dumpy but I needed to get Kit and Anne's stuff out of the way to progress with the rest of the plot. Hope you enjoyed! Drop a kudos or leave a comment, I love hearing from y'all!


	12. Just a moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lina and Jane take care of things. Anne had no one left. He is pleased.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey yall! I hope people like this chapter, I got it out faster than i normally have chapters out. Anyway I thought it was a good one. But in life news, I got back on tumblr, ife gave me back my kneecaps, but I'm still under house arrest haha.  
> ATTENTION  
> THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS REFERENCES TO SPIDER IMAGERY AND PAST NON-CON, IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ THAT, YOU MAY WANT TO GIVE THIS CHAPTER A MISS.

Jane scampered down the hall, Lina close behind. Turning back, she saw Lina trip, fall, and grab at Jane’s tail to steady herself. “OW!” Jane hissed, yanking it away. Lina began to make some snarky comment, but at that moment, the huge mechanical creature burst through the drywall, screaming and clicking and suddenly neither woman had the urge to pick a fight with the other. 

“Can we kill it?” Lina hoarsely panted out.

Jane shook her head, now half dragging Lina behind her. “They’re designed to be used to track down traitors and defectors. So they’re pretty much impossible to be destroyed by the rashadi.”

Lina’s brow creased in thought. As she and Jane fled back across the sky bridge, she wheezed, “Could... could a human kill it?”

The liren let out a high pitched whistling sound and slammed a foreleg through the floor of the sky bridge. It began tearing at the ground, ripping up the floor of the bridge. 

Jane froze and Lina slammed into her full force. “Jane wha-” Leaning around the woman, Lina saw just what had stopped her. A second liren was waiting for them at their only exit. Now that they weren’t running for their lives, (not that being trapped was much better) Lina could get a better look at the mechanical creatures. The one that they’d first encountered had eight long spindly legs and upon further inspection, she could see what could only be described as an eye of a needle at the base of each leg. The front half of the creature seemed to be made of whirring gears and clacking mechanical parts. Eight glass globes with some kind of swirling liquid were where the eyes should’ve been. In place of the abdomen, was a spool of what looked like copper thread, but seemed to hiss and spark whenever it jostled against the ends of the spool. The other liren looked almost the same as its twin, except instead of a spool of wire for an abdomen, it had a glass bulb, filled with a dark liquid. The same liquid the two creatures were absolutely coated in.

Lina looked over at Jane, and for the first time, realized she looked absolutely terrified. “Jane?” she prodded, “Can a human kill these?”

Jane broke out of her momentary shock, “I don’t know, humans were never a variable we considered making them.”

The first liren surged forwards and Jane sidestepped it, dragging Lina out of the way. “We?” Lina asked.

Jane huffed and she started running from the dripping creatures, Lina following after her. “Beloved asked me to help him with a program to hunt traitors. Cathy and I made these.” Lina chose not to comment over the way Jane’s voice stumbled over the name of her dead Lieutenant. 

Jane’s eyes were wild with fear as she tried to find some way through the slowly crumbling sky bridge. “Okay, if we jump from here we should probably be able to get to those support beams, but you’re a human and I have no idea how far you can jump so will I have to carry you?” Jane rambled under her breath.

“Jane?”

“Not now Catherine.”

“Jane.”

“I said not now Catherine!”

“JANE!”

“WHAT?” Jane whirled on the human, only to find the liren practically on top of them. “Oh.”

Jane grabbed Lina’s hand and sprinted forwards to the gaping hole in the middle of the bridge. The concrete around it was slowly crumbling away, steadily widening the hole. Lina was barely keeping pace with Jane, still holding her hand in a death grip. 

“We’re not gonna make it!” Lina shrieked.  
“Shut up we’ll be fine, probably.” Jane was too focused to spare anymore words to the panicking human. They reached the edge, and before Jane could think too hard about what she was about to do, she leapt from the crumbling concrete, dragging Lina along with her. She could hear Lina screaming curses as they practically flew through the air. Desperately, she reached out for the edge. Jane grabbed for the other side, and missed. Flailing in panic, she tried to grab something before they fell. Her grip closed around a piece of rebar, and she cried out as the metal dug into her palm painfully. Jane looked down at Lina, feeling her nails digging crescent moons into her wrist. Lina was biting her lip and tears were beading up in the corners of her eyes. A little belatedly, Jane realized Lina was hanging onto her with her injured arm.

“Jane, wait.” Lina gasped, pain obvious in her voice.

Jane looked between Lina and the rebar she was clinging to which was slowly creaking downwards. “Yeah?”

“I have an idea. Let me go.”

Jane stared at Lina, but the human seemed totally serious. “Are you kidding? You could die!”

“I have an idea, just trust me.”

Hesitating, Jane looked back up over the edge. She could see the liren slowly inching closer, clacking their jaws in rhythmic patterns. Looking back at Lina, she saw her nod, steel in her gaze. Slowly, Jane let go of Lina’s wrist. Lina dropped and disappeared into the dark below them. Praying to The Twins she hadn’t just killed her only guide, she turned her attention back to the liren.

The liren with the spool for an abdomen seemed to pause for a moment. It then spoke in an oddly humanoid female voice, a voice that sent shivers up Jane’s back. 

“Little Seymour,” the liren called, “Why do you run? He only wants what’s best for you. It’s time to come home. You’ve been gone much too long. You’re dead. You failed him and he wishes to bring you home anyway, isn’t that wonderful?”

“I-I’ve been marked dead?” Jane gasped in shock. No, that couldn’t be right. She was the queen, she was Henry’s right hand, she commanded armies. She had never failed in a mission since that day long ago on Erlken. The liren had to be wrong. And yet….She could remember when she and Cathy had first made them. They were never originally programmed to speak. But if the liren had branded her as a traitor, then the rest of the rashadi on homeworld would have to know that she was no longer in Henry’s favor.

The liren reached over the edge and plucked her up by the scruff like a naughty kitten. The black oil burned into Jane’s skin and she whimpered. Jane knew exactly what it was. A compound Cathy had developed that was horrible and deadly to the rashadi. It wasn’t exactly slow acting either. If that oil got into her bloodstream, she was a dead woman. The liren clicked and whirred, then the wire from the first liren’s spool shot out and began winding itself around Jane’s body. Jane screamed in pain as the thin wire started cutting into her skin. 

_“Catherine,”_ she thought, _“If you have a plan, now would be a great time to show up….”_

The liren with the glass bulb for an abdomen skittered over, leaning over her. It reached out and dropped her into the bulb full of the oil at the back of its companion. Fire seemed to burn all over her body and she screamed, air bubbles racing from her mouth. The liren began clicking away and Jane’s vision began to get hazy. Lina was coming back, she had to. She had to. Jane’s eyes closed slowly.

Anne drummed her fingers on the arm of the chair in the control room as she’d seen Jane do countless times. The room felt so large and empty without both Cathy and Jane and their banter. Anne dug her claws into her palm. No time to think about that. The new replacements who were now manning the controls, Aetxius and Rei, were both bustling around, trying to do jobs really meant for at least 4 people. Anne sighed. Cathy had been able to do it alone, but Cathy was brilliant, and beautiful, and kind, and- Anne cut herself off. She didn’t have time to think about that anymore. 

Pulling up one of the glowing screens, she checked in on the human captive. She was still sitting on the floor, rocking back and forth slightly. Anne scoffed under her breath. Humans were so odd. Feeling the after affects of a trauma they couldn’t even remember. She was about to close out the screen, when an incoming call came to her attention. 

“Aetxius, forward call to main screen.” She ordered.

“Yes ma’am.”

As the screen glowed to life, Henry’s face came into view. 

Leaping to her feet, Anne saluted, “Your majesty.”

“Boleyn. I have news for you. It seems your commander has taken far too long to come back from her mission. Until she returns, _if she returns_ , she is to be marked dead.”

Anne stiffened, she knew the rules. If a rashadi took too long on a mission, they were deemed dead. Being part of the rashadi military was a dangerous job and more often than not, if you went missing, you were either dead, or about to be. She wanted to scream, to cry, to destroy, but years of military training kept her from doing anything. “What are your orders, your majesty.” she could feel her voice waiver and she hated it.

“Unless Seymour miraculously comes back, you are promoted. I’ve assigned you a new right hand and she will be arriving shortly. Commander Boleyn, take control of the rashadi. Seymour has taken too long and was too weak to finish the job. She’s gone. Your orders are to finish the enslavement and killing of the population. Begin the harvest.”

Anne nodded stiffly. “Yes your majesty.” Henry’s image disappeared and Anne sat down heavily. 

“Commander? Your orders?” Rei asked.

Anne lifted her head from her hands, ice in her gaze. “Call the troops from the defense. They’re no longer needed to search for Seymour. Prepare to march on the nearest colony.”

She watched numbly as the two soldiers immediately busied themselves with barking orders into screens and to divisions. Standing up, she left the control room and started to head outside. As she walked, she watched Anna join her, now dressed in a crisp new officer's dress uniform. Anna was holding a bundle of fabric, and as she unfolded it, Anne saw it was the ornate Commander’s dress coat she’d seen Jane wear only once. Stretching out her arms, she let Anna slide the coat over her shoulders. 

“Orders ma’am?” Anna asked in a dreadfully monotone voice.

“Let’s send a message first. Catherine said there was a colony north of here? We can use them for our first taste of battle against the humans.” Anne smirked. Holding her hands behind her back, Anne surveyed her new army. Cathy was dead, Anna was gone, and Jane? Her only family left had betrayed her. She’d left her alone. No matter, Anne didn’t need anyone anymore.

Lina dropped through the dark, and landed heavily on the ground. She hissed as pain lanced up her shoulder and she stumbled. Shakily, she stood, looking around to get her bearings. And then she wasn’t in the dark. She was six years old again, screaming through the flames. Desperately, she tried to shake herself from the past. _“Focus! Jane needs you!”_ Lina berated herself mentally. As she sprinted through the looming ruins, a voice in the back of her head wondered just when Lina had started caring about her captor. No, not a captor any more. A friend? Maybe. 

She ran, breath still coming in ragged pants and skidded to a halt in the room that she and Jane had first been in. Jane’s discarded uniform was still crumpled on the floor, along with Lina’s old tank top. Rummaging around on the floor, she found what she was looking for. Her axe weighed a little heavier on her hands now but it still felt right to be holding it again. Stumbling back out of the room, she raced to find the stairs back to the sky bridge. Taking the stairs two at a time, she arrived, winded and out of breath, at the entrance to the bridge. Lina blinked in surprise at the scene before her. Jane seemed to be unconscious in the abdomen of the second liren, while the first looked almost as if it was threading the wire from its spool through its foreleg. The second liren turned its back to the first and Jane was pulled momentarily from the dark liquid. She groaned which Lina took as a good sign that she was still alive. The liren raised its foreleg and Lina watched as it started chittering to its companion as if it was plotting where best to begin whatever it was going to do with Jane.

Lina charged forwards, a half baked plan forming in her mind. Reaching up, she grabbed the underside of the spool of wire attached to the first liren. The wire was smooth under her hands, but she grabbed a fistful and used it to drag herself upwards. Grunting with the effort, Lina swore under her breath as the mangled skin on her shoulder pulled and tore. She raced across the front, flat disc that served as the liren’s head. 

“Hey, ugly! Up here.” Lina swung at one of the glass globes placed where its eyes should’ve been. The glass easily shattered, releasing a strange bunch of swirling worm-like creatures. The liren let out an eerily human scream, and bucked, dropping Jane in the process. Lina felt a little bad, hearing the audible thunk Jane’s body made as it hit the floor, but she was just a bit occupied with hanging on to the liren for dear life as it thrashed around. She groaned in disgust as she felt the black oil coat her hands. Oh that was never gonna come out, was it? Lina crashed her axe through another one of the glass globes and dodged the inner guts spilling out once again. The liren screamed again, and spun, almost throwing Lina from the top once again. She slammed her axe into the surface of the disc, holding onto the handle like her life depended on it. Her life probably did depend on it for that matter.

The second liren screamed in a similarly human manner and raced forwards to attack. As it reared back to slam its needle sharp forelimbs into Lina, she scrambled up to the head once again. The liren bore down on her and she barely managed to roll out of the way, laughing in satisfaction as the second liren pierced through the metal head of the first, effectively destroying it. The rest of the glass globes shattering with a loud clash. She tugged her axe out of its back and hefted it over a shoulder.

The remaining liren turned on Lina with a growl. “Little human, you can not run forever. Your cunning does you no good dead.” 

Lina smirked. “I don’t plan on running forever don’t worry.” The liren clacked its jaws and lunged down at her. The black oil splashing all over Lina in the process. She cocked the axe back like a baseball bat, and swung as it got close enough. The satisfying crunch under the metal sent a jolt up Lina’s arms, making her already aching shoulder hurt worse. The liren was right about one thing, she couldn't keep this up forever. She watched as the metal monster clattered back, one jaw hanging off at an awkward angle. Lina watched as it leapt forwards again, this time stabbing out with its long, sharp forelegs. Lina slammed her axe into one of its legs, flinching as the metal screamed against metal. The liren kept advancing and Lina had to scramble back to avoid being stabbed. She saw Jane slowly coming to, but still wrapped up in the wire from the liren that was lying dead on the floor. 

An idea quickly started forming in Lina’s head, and she backed towards the still body of the first liren. Reaching down, she felt around for the end of the wire. Finding it, she grabbed the end and ran forwards towards the oncoming creature. It clicked in confusion as Lina dashed between its legs, darting back and forth through the spindly limbs. The liren tried to reach for her, but Lina dodged out of the way. She shook the black oil from her eyes, then ran back out from beneath the liren, still clutching the wire. Her breathing came harder now and she hoped her plan worked. Otherwise she was out of options.

Dragging the wire behind her, she dropped her axe once again and clutched at her sore ribs. The liren skittered behind her, trying to find purchase on the crumbling floor. Lina startled as a large chunk of the ceiling crashed down in front of her. Cursing, she jumped over it and kept going, quickly reaching the gaping hole in the floor. Searching around, she found what she was looking for, a large, stuck out piece of rebar. Kneeling down, Lina tied off the end of the wire around the rebar, and watched as the liren continued to charge forward, tripping over its own tied together feet. It lunged at Lina and she easily sidestepped, sending the creature careening into the pit. The liren fell, shrieking and wailing, then with the sound of screaming metal, was held aloft by the wire.

“Foolish human, you think such a small drop could break me?” it hissed. Lina didn’t answer, a little preoccupied with pushing a large piece of concrete over onto the edge. With a pained grunt, she shoved it over and watched with satisfaction as it landed squarely on the liren, dragging it down and smashing against the ground. She watched as the worm-things splattered against the ground, leaking out from beneath the concrete. Lina limped over to Jane, picking her axe up on the way, and began to unravel her from the wire. Jane coughed, heaving the black oil from her lungs and whimpered. 

“Come on, we gotta get out of here.” Lina propped Jane up and they stumbled away. Lina led them into one of the rooms and the pair collapsed on the nearest bed, neither wanting to move any further. Slowly, after an eternity of just unmoving silence, Jane sat up and tugged at the hem of Lina’s coat. Lina obliged, pulling it off so Jane could check and change her bandages. She hissed as the dried blood pulled at her skin. After Jane finished, Lina turned back around and slowly started wiping the black oil from Jane’s skin with the dirty bed sheets. She could see Jane biting down on her lower lip in a brave attempt to not flinch or cry. As Lina reached Jane’s face, she was surprised when Jane leaned into the touch instead of backing away. Jane seemed almost as surprised, but was just too tired to move her face from Lina’s hand. Lina hesitated momentarily, then finished wiping the dark liquid off of Jane. she bundled up the now soaked cloth, and threw it to the floor. Neither spoke. 

Lina could barely hear Jane muttering something under her breath and decided to break the almost silence. “Jane?”

At first Jane didn’t answer, only continuing to mutter under her breath. “Show no weakness. Show no weakness.” over and over.

“Jane if you need to cry, I’m not going to judge you. It’s not a weakness.” Lina reached out and put her hand over Jane’s. Jane flinched, hard, and Lina moved to take her hand away when she something stopped her. Slowly, Jane turned her hand palm up and laced their fingers together. Lina looked down at their intertwined hands, then looked back up. Jane was quietly sobbing and was trying to stifle it, the back of her hand pressed firmly against her mouth. Carefully, Lina leaned forwards and pulled the hand down. “Jane?”

Jane fully burst into tears then, her body shaking with the force of her cries. Lina let go of Jane’s hand and pulled her in close, feeling Jane’s tears drip against the curve of her collar bone.

Jane clung to her shirt and hiccuped. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring them here. I didn’t mean to bring you here. I-I’m sorry.”

Lina smoothed down Jane’s hair with one hand, the other rubbing circles into her back. All the while she whispered sweet nothings, trying to calm the shaking woman. If Jane felt Lina’s own tears falling onto her scalp, she didn’t say anything. 

“Are we friends?”

The question caught Lina so off guard, she almost didn’t hear it. “What?”

“Are we friends?” Jane repeated again, her voice wavering slightly this time. 

Lina laughed. “Well this makes what, two near death experiences we’ve had together? I think that should make us friends at least.”

Jane quivered, “It’s good to know I’ll have at least one friend when this whole ordeal is over.”

“What do you mean?”

“You didn’t hear what the liren said. They were chasing me.”

Lina frowned. “What did you ever do to warrant that?”

Jane shrugged, still not moving from her place buried in Lina’s collar. “I guess I took too long in my mission. I failed. The rest of the rashadi think I’m dead. Doesn’t explain the liren coming after me though. They’re reserved for traitors.” she shuddered, “I have to finish this mission. If I could just prove to his majesty this all wasn’t in vain, I’ll be allowed to return to my original post.”

Lina looked down at Jane, “Why can’t you just go back now and inform them you’re still alive? Then we can continue our search for the lieutenant.” 

Jane shook her head miserably. “The rashadi don’t work that way. Coming home dead with your mission complete is infinitely better than returning home alive but empty handed.”

Lina didn’t reply. Instead she just pulled Jane just a little bit closer and continued carding her fingers through her hair.

After a beat, Jane whispered, “How are you holding up?” When Lina looked down, confused, Jane clarified, “I mean before the liren came and interrupted us, you’d just finished telling a really heavy story.”

Lina sighed. “I’m holding up I guess. Doesn’t mean I like being here anymore than I did. But it was nice being able to talk about it.” Carefully, Lina lay back letting Jane snuggle into her chest.

“I haven’t done this since I was a little kid.” She heard Jane whisper.

“What? Talk?” Lina chuckled.

“No, held someone while I slept.” 

Lina smiled softly. As Jane curled up into her chest, she let herself relax. Maybe, just for a moment, it would be alright. 

_He smiled from his secluded corner. As he closed his fist on the hologram, he chuckled to himself. Boleyn had replaced Seymour as commander. An unhinged leader with nothing to lose would be much more dangerous than a desperate one. Seymour was off on some wild goose chase, perhaps the lirens he’d sent would soon return with her and he would see his beloved once again. He’d missed her. Missed the way she’d jump at his beck and call. Missed the way she’d look at him as if he was everything. Missed the way she squirmed underneath him. He chuckled. Cleves’ re-calibration was doing nicely. Each time he fixed her, she became just a little easier to mold. As he fiddled with the hologram creator, he considered the lost lieutenant, Parr. She’d been useful beyond measure at the academy. If she was dead, she may have lost some of her intellect. That would make her no longer useful to him. Perhaps he’d have to put her down for good if she did return. No point in leaving any stragglers behind. He smiled to himself. Everything was going perfectly._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was a ride. And we got a small bit in a new character's perspective! Don't worry it wont be a reoccurring thing. The trashman doesn't deserve more than a paragraph anyway.  
> Hope you enjoyed! Drop a kudos or leave a comment, I love hearing from y'all!


	13. What's To Lose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne lets go of her weakness. Kit wants to do something. Lina and Jane have some things to sort out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Happy Birthday to my friend Pandora! Yall can thank her for the update today, haha I wanted to do SOMETHING for her birthday. So I hope its okay cause i sat down and wrote 2.5k words in a day to get his done. I hope yall like it!  
> ATTENTION  
> THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS REFERENCES TO PAST NON-CON, SLUT SHAMING, VICTIM BLAMING AND A SC VERSION OF KATHERINE HOWARD'S PAST, IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ THAT, SKIP KATHERINE HOWARDS POV

Anne clasped her hands behind her back, surveying the battlefield, light from the roaring flames flickering across her face. Dressed to the nines in Jane’s old uniform, she grinned. The battle hadn’t really been much of a real battle. The humans had easily submitted and those who’d fought back...Anne chuckled. Well it was safe to say the resistors hadn’t been resisting long. Anna strode confidently up beside her, brushing some blood off the front of her uniform. 

“Damage report Captain Cleves.” Anne ordered.

Anna clicked her heels together and saluted, before rattling off in a dull monotone, “No casualties, though we did discover a new colony.”

Anne nodded, “We’ll head there next. If today was the standard for the humans, it shouldn’t take long to bring this planet to its knees.” She turned to Anna, about to congratulate her on the victory, but hesitated when she saw the completely blank, dead expression on Anna’s face. Instead, Anne just barked, “Take the prisoners back to the ship, then report back to me.” Anna nodded, snapped off another sharp salute, then quickly marched off leaving Anne still watching the blaze her soldiers had left behind them. 

Anne carded her hand through her hair, taking a moment to compose herself. As her hands brushed against her horns, she felt the still cool metal band wrapped around her right horn. Carefully, she tugged it off and looked down at the simple silver band in her palm. Anne swore that for a moment, she could hear Cathy’s voice whisper in her ear, “Hey Annie, you wanna go watch the sunset after Jane finally lets us off our shift?” 

She clenched her fist around the ring, refusing to flinch as the metal cut into her palm painfully. Anne had no time for the ghosts of the past anymore. She had an army to lead. In a moment of anger, frustration, and grief, Anne hurled the ring into the hungry flames. The silver winked in the firelight as it flew, before tumbling to the ground and disappearing. Suddenly frustrated with herself, Anne yanked charms and jewelry off her horns along with the cuff on her tail and threw them into the fire also. Chest heaving, Anne roughly scrubbed the tears from her eyes. Anne clenched her jaw, turned on a heel, and strode back into the ship. She had no time for the past anymore. Best to leave it all behind.

Kit curled in on herself, trying to breathe through the lump in her throat. Something- no someone- had hurt her. Badly. But why couldn’t she remember what happened? It was so unfair, she had to live with the hot ball of fear and regret in the pit of her stomach, but her brain had just kindly decided she couldn’t be allowed to remember just what had given her those feelings. 

She rocked back and forth, trying to wrack her brain for any clues at all. She could vaguely remember the faces of people, men, who’d told her how important she was. How loved she was. She’d really connected with them they’d told her, and she couldn’t leave now. As she tried not to cry anymore than she already had, she heard the sounds of a scuffle outside her cell door. Unfolding her aching body, Kit stood and went to go see what the commotion was. She blinked in surprise as she saw Anna manhandling an old woman into an adjacent cell. The woman seemed to see her and suddenly broke free from Anna’s grasp with a surprising burst of strength. 

“YOU.” The woman snarled,

Kit immediately began to back away, not wanting to get into a conflict.

“Katherine Howard you ungrateful slut! We took you in and this is how you repay us? In enslavement? You scheming little whore!” the woman roared, slamming a fist against the green energy field separating the two humans. Anna grabbed the woman again and wrestled her into the cell next to Kit.

Kit raced back up to the front of her cell. “Anna? What's happening?” She called out to her friend. 

Anna didn’t respond.

“Anna?”

Finally Anna turned to face Kit. “My rank is Captain. And you would do well to remember to address me as such. Human.”

Kit reeled back, what happened to the Anna who’d at least tried to be kind to her? As Anna-no, Captain Cleves- walked away, Kit sank back down to the floor. She leaned back against the wall and sighed. Was that what Anne had meant by re-calibrated? As Kit puzzled over this latest development, she heard the woman in the cell next to hers start to speak. 

“So, you’re stuck here too?” 

At first Kit didn’t answer, but the woman didn’t seem to want an answer, simply barreling on ahead. 

“This is where you ran off to hmm? I’m sure you’ve found someway to fuck yourself into more trouble. I’m sure you’ve found some way to whore yourself out to these aliens.”

Kit hesitated, then asked, “I-I’m not sure what you mean ma’am, have we met?”

She heard the old woman snort. “Of course we’ve met child, I had to take care of you while you were staying with us as just a small scrap of a thirteen year old girl. Not like you did anything for us.” 

“I don’t remember you.”

“I’m not surprised, you were too busy constantly looking for someone new to fuck your brains out I doubt you even took a moment to wonder who was taking care of you.”

“Did I really-”

The woman scoffed, “Of course you didn’t care. You were too busy looking for your next man. Though I do recall you and Thomas got along much better than you and Manox or Dereham.”

“Thomas? Manox? Dereham?”

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten already child. The men who you’d seduce into your bed every night? I’m not sure how a young scrap of a girl like yourself ever managed that.” 

Kit didn’t respond this time, simply fidgeting with her fingers. Did she really do all of that? She didn’t want to believe it. And yet.... As the woman continued berating her for her apparently many sins, Kit began to remember what she was speaking about. Unwanted memories filling in cracks in her brain she wasn’t even aware of.

The old woman started detailing Kit’s lists of crimes. Manox, one of the men Kit had worked with. He’d brought her back a guitar from one of their expeditions. But that present and the following lessons had come with a heavy price. Dereham had been the one to start taking her out on raids with the others. He had refused to explain why they were searching for firewood inside a hotel and she didn’t realize what he wanted until it was too late. Much too late. Thomas had seemed sympathetic. He’d told her that he would speak with some of the leaders of the colony for her. Kit trusted him. Believed him. Another mistake. There had been one other the woman mentioned, but she said he had been a stranger, just passing through and they’d never seen him again.

“Didn’t stop you that you’d never met him before hmm?” the woman had grumbled.

Kit remembered finally running, tearing through the woods as far and as fast as her tired body could carry her before finally curling up in a small beach cove. Preferably to die.

But Kit hadn’t died and now here she was, alive and still just as useless as she’d been before. Fed up with listening to the woman next to her rattle off Kit’s seemingly endless list of sins, Kit finally made up her mind. Maybe she was a slut. Maybe her crimes were too great and she was irredeemable. Perhaps this woman was correct and she deserved to die. But if she was hopeless, then she was going to do at least one good thing with her short life.

Blocking out the old woman’s braying voice, Kit stood shakily. She stumbled over to the vents she’d seen before and began to tug at them, feeling the metal grate give ever so slightly. Kit pulled and tugged until with a crack, the grate popped out and Kit tumbled backwards, clutching the ripped out piece of metal close to her chest. Looking down at her hands, she could see the marks and cuts the metal had bit into her skin and the blood beading up in some of the creases. Wiping the blood off on her pants, she bit her lip and wiggled her way into the vent. It was a tight fit, but Kit dragged herself through the ducts. Eventually they opened up some and Kit could crawl comfortably. She backed out once again, and began rearranging her furniture to block her new escape route. 

After satisfying her own standards, Kit wiggled back into the ducts, crawling through the metal tubes trying to get back to the record room. If she could get back to there, she could possibly finish her goal she’d made for herself. Returning Anna’s memory. Anna deserved to know who she was, and whoever Anna had been, she had to be better than Kit. As Kit wiggled through the ducts searching for the record room, she wondered if she was still “Kit” anymore. She certainly didn’t  _ feel  _ like Katherine. Katherine was a girl who’d been pushed so far down she’d been forgotten. Kit was Kit now. But if Katherine had truly been as bad as that woman had said, was Kit also like that? She tried to clear the confusing thoughts from her head and instead redoubled her efforts. 

After what felt like an eternity of searching, Kit found herself looking down through a grate into the faintly glowing record room. Reaching her long fingers down through the metal bars, she tugged until once again the grate ripped open in her hands. She flinched as the metal made a loud ripping sound as it pulled away from the opening. Wiping blood from freshly opened gashes, Kit lowered herself through the vent and dropped to the floor. Looking back up at the ceiling, Kit gauged that she could probably jump back up with a bit of effort. She turned to glance around the room. Hundreds of glowing blue cubes stared back at her. Kit sighed. She had a lot of work to do. 

Lina woke first that morning. Jane was snoring quietly, a small line of drool pooling by her mouth. Lina chuckled and scratched the back of Jane’s head like she was a cat. Jane made a muffled, contented sound, then burrowed further into Lina’s chest. After a few peaceful moments, Jane blinked her eyes open and looked right up at Lina. Jane yelped and jumped up, scrambling off of Lina and almost falling off the bed. Lina laughed lightly, then helped a rambling Jane back up onto the bed.

After Jane had taken a second to compose herself, all while Lina wheezed with laughter, the two set about getting ready to head out. Jane quickly changed Lina’s bandages then waited for Lina to return from gathering the rest of the water bottles she’d found yesterday. As Lina came back downstairs, she started talking about their next route. 

“So I think it would be a good idea to head down to the beaches, there's plenty of places to hide out and sleep in the old shops.” Lina said as she packed away their supplies.

Jane nodded, “And that will be the fastest way to get to our destination also?”

“Definitely.” Lina easily lied. Jane smiled brightly and Lina only felt a small flash of guilt for lying to her.

As they walked out of the hospital, they passed by the unmoving metal corpse of one of the lirens. Jane flinched as the black oil flowed sluggishly from the body. Lina tugged Jane along, and after they were a safe distance away, asked Jane, “So, what is that black stuff?”

Jane winced. “Cathy didn’t have a name for it, but it's a compound she developed for containing prisoners.” Jane paused like she was trying to figure out how to explain. “You know how we have gold blood?”

Lina nodded, “Yea, but what does that have to do with the liren?”

“Well, rashadi have gold blood because of a chemical in our blood stream called virabin.” Jane ducked under a fallen beam and Lina followed after her. “Virabin is what gives us our enhanced speed, strength, and agility. But it's like a drug. We can survive without it, but we’re dependent on it even before we’re born. Cathy created the oil as a way to destroy virabin, but it needs to be in your bloodstream to take effect.”

Lina frowned, “If it's like a drug, then wouldn’t destroying it send you into withdrawal?”

“Exactly.” Jane said, “And that's why the liren are so dangerous. Just a nick and you’re pretty much dead.”

Shuddering, Lina climbed over some stray concrete after Jane. “I’m glad you didn’t get hurt before I could get back.”

“I’m glad you came back.”

Lina opened her mouth to retort that of course she would’ve come back, when she noticed just how tired Jane had sounded when she’d said it. Maybe Jane had been abandoned before? That was probably why she was so worried about Lina not coming back. Satisfied with her own explanation, Lina instead busied herself with not falling on her face as she maneuvered through the crumbling concrete. 

The walk to the ocean's edge was uneventful, with only the occasional stop to change Catherine’s bandages. The closer they got to the ocean, the more excited Catherine seemed to become,, eventually tugging Jane by the hands to get over the next hill, laughing, “Come on! We’re almost there!” 

Jane smiled at Catherine’s almost childlike excitement. Allowing herself to be dragged along, Jane easily matched Catherine’s pace as they ran. As they crested the hill, Jane stopped dead in her tracks, staring out at the massive expanse of blue before her. Catherine, who hadn’t expected Jane to stop so suddenly, was jerked backwards and crashed into Jane. Jane stumbled, tripped, and fell, bringing them both crashing down the hill. As they rolled to a stop, Jane jumped off a blushing Catherine, and sprinted to the water’s edge. Freezing wind whipped through her hair and Jane carefully tucked it behind her ears before crouching down and staring at the water as it lapped at her feet. 

Catherine walked behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. Jane jumped slightly, then looked up at Catherine. “Is it supposed to be this big?” She wondered.

Laughing, Catherine replied, “Yep. It's just one big puddle.”

“That's not like any puddle I’ve ever seen.” Jane whispered. Hesitantly, she reached out and touched the surface of the water. Immediately she jerked her hand back. “It’s freezing!”

Catherine crouched down beside her, “Everything is cold around here, especially the water. Though I guess it is a little warm today.” Jane stared out across the water. The massive expanse stretched even past the horizon and she marveled at it. 

“You know,” Jane said under her breath, “I’ve never seen this much water in one place before. Back home, we just survived off the small pockets of water we could find underground.” Carefully, she dipped a finger into the water and brought it up to her lips. 

“Jane wait a second you don’t wanna-” Catherine started, before Jane spat onto the ground and started coughing. 

“It’s salty!”

Catherine rubbed the back of her head, laughing slightly at the absolute betrayal in Jane’s voice. “I probably should’ve warned you huh?”

Spitting on the ground to get rid of the nasty taste in her mouth, Jane glared at Catherine, “What do you humans do with water you can’t drink?”

Catherine shrugged, then grinned like she’d just had a brilliant idea. “We play in it.” Jane prided herself for being the prime example of what a good soldier was. For being prepared for anything. Jane however, was not prepared for Catherine to dunk her hands into the frigid water and splash her with it. 

Jane hissed in shock and fury, then realized what she’d just done. “Uh…”

Catherine laughed in delight. “You’re just like a cat!”

Pinning her ears flat back against her head, Jane tried to justify, “No, I was just surprised!” She shoved Catherine and ginned smugly as the human splashed face first into the choppy waves. Catherine came up gasping, threw her coat to the shore, and tackled Jane into the water. The two tussled back and forth, shrieking and yelling, Jane stripping off her own coat and slamming Catherine back into the freezing water. Catherine grabbed Jane’s shoulders and rolled her over into the ocean supporting her head above the water. 

“Do I win?” Catherine smirked. Jane stared up at her, realizing just how close their faces were. Blushing, but not about to be beaten, Jane grabbed Catherine’s arm she was supporting herself with and pushed, dropping them both back into the ocean. As Jane surfaced, she looked over at Catherine who was laughing between coughs. They were sitting in about ankle deep water and were both totally soaked. Jane let her tail lazily swish back and forth and she shivered involuntarily. Catherine eventually stood and offered a hand to Jane. Jane took the hand, then pulled Catherine back into the water again. Catherine crashed down into the surf, and moments later Jane felt a harsh tug on her tail and fell backward next to Catherine. 

For a while, neither spoke. Both too caught up in laughing and wheezing to say anything. But after a moment, Jane whispered, “I’m kinda cold.” Catherine sat up and helped Jane stand.

Hissing in a breath through her teeth, she said, “Probably wasn't a good idea to get saltwater on my back huh?” Jane’s eyes widened as she remembered Catherine’s injury. She opened her mouth to say something, when Catherine stopped her. “Hey, don’t worry about me. I’m fine. Let’s go dry off.” That sounded wonderful to Jane, and she followed Catherine back to the sand to pick up their jackets. Catherine led Jane up the beach to a cluster of small buildings that must’ve been shops long ago.

Jane cast her gaze over the broken facades of the buildings. Catherine pushed down the doors to one store that was once painted in a cheerful pastel pink. Ducking inside, Jane stared at the racks of human clothing and toys and towels. Watching Catherine take one of the towels down and dry herself, Jane started to do the same thing, only swearing slightly when the damned thing kept getting caught on her horns. Jane shivered as the cold clung to her bones and followed Catherine back out of the building. They spent the day looking through the shops, nabbing canned food where they could, and Catherine explaining every single odd human invention to Jane. (“But, what does it DO?” “I don’t know Jane, I wasn’t alive when fidget spinners were made. Hell if I know.”)

The walk seemed to drag on forever and Jane was beginning to get sick of rows upon rows of crumbling cheerful pastel walls. When they weren’t staring at the broken buildings, they were passing trees upon trees upon trees. At first it was a novelty, Jane had never seen so much green in her life. But that too lost its glamour and Jane was convinced that if she had to see another tree again she might just tear it down. Resisting the urge to whine how long until they got to where they were going like a child, Jane instead jogged up to walk alongside Catherine instead behind her. Catherine seemed to start in surprise, but didn’t say anything, simply slowing her stride so the shorter woman could keep up. Jane was bored out of her mind again, one could only walk in one direction for four days for so long. 

As the sky once again grew dark, Catherine led them into an abandoned store that looked a lot larger than the others. Racks and racks of clothing lined the walls and Jane had to almost run to keep up with Catherine who was ducking and weaving between the aisles. Jane lashed her tail in frustration, trying to keep track of the quickly disappearing human. “What are we doing here?” Jane whined. 

Catherine sighed and slowed her walk, allowing Jane to catch up. “We’re here because this place actually has a roof. And we’ve been walking for almost nine hours. I’m tired and I’m sure you’re tired too.”

Jane huffed under her breath. “Rashadi don’t get tired from just walking, we’re strong and powerful and-”

“By all means if you wanna walk in the dark be my guest.”

“No, no I’m coming.” 

On a whim, Jane looked at one of the many clothes on the rack, then pulled one out. “Catherine?”

Frustrated, Catherine whirled around. “What?”

Jane held up the strange article of clothing. “How do you fight in this.”

Lina stared at Jane, trying to figure out if the rashadi was crazy. Blinking, she realized Jane was completely serious. “I-its a dress. You’re not supposed to fight in it.”

Jane frowned, “But, how would you defend yourself if you were attacked?”

“You...don’t?”

“Well I bet I could fight in it.”

Lina snorted, “I’d like to see that.” Apparently, the rashadi didn’t know the meaning of sarcasm, because Jane started trying to figure out how to put the dress on. Staring for a beat, Lina laughed lightly and walked over to give Jane a hand. Taking the dress from her Lina unzipped the back and handed it back to Jane. “Are you seriously going to try it on?”

Jane stuck out her tongue petulantly, “You challenged me, of course I am.” 

Lina rolled her eyes and watched Jane scamper off. Looking back where Jane got the dress, she saw a matching suit and hummed thoughtfully. Oh what the hell. You only live once after all. Lina picked it up, turned it in her hands, and left to go find somewhere private.

Stepping back out, Lina laughed. She hadn't dressed up just for fun in years. Not since traveling with Jo and Bella. Smoothing down the lapels of the suit, she called out, “Couldn’t figure out the dress Jane?”

A grumpy Jane replied, “This is so impractical, why did you humans create these?” Lina turned around, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from, and almost had to pick her jaw back up off the floor. Jane was wearing a baby blue dress, cut just above the knee. It had off the shoulder sleeves and a baby blue coloured belt around her waist. surprisingly she'd also discarded her fake horn that hid the broken one underneath. The shattered tips jutted out and yet looked perfectly natural for Jane. Jane strode over, tail curling and uncurling, and punched Lina lightly in the arm. “Hah, see I can fight in this! I- what are you wearing.” 

Lina rubbed the cuffs of her matching navy blue suit jacket. She hadn’t bothered to put on the slacks, but she had worn the black dress shirt and navy jacket and tie. It had almost painfully reminded her of the times she and Jo would hide in clothing racks playing dress up while Bella looked for supplies. Lina blushed, “Well, I thought I might as well get in on the fun…”

Jane snorted. “You look ridiculous.” She walked up to Lina and straightened her lapel. “But I like it.” 

Lina rubbed the back of her head and smiled. “So, what's the verdict of being able to fight in a dress?”

Jane pouted in an over the top way, “Well, I don’t think I’d wear these every day, but I do feel pretty.” Jane beamed at Lina, before her face crumpled and she looked down at the floor. “Sorry....”

Confused, Lina tilted Jane’s chin back up. “Why’re you sorry?”

Jane scuffed the floor with a foot. “Belov- Henry, said I shouldn’t be full of myself. It’s unbecoming of a queen. Plus there are others who are much better than me.” Jane pulled her face away from Lina, refusing to meet her eyes.

Lina paused for a moment, unsure of how to respond. Her knee jerk response was anger. How dare he make Jane feel like she was anything less than perfect. The second thought was shock. Did really she see Jane as perfect? The two of them had only recently even agreed to be friends. Lina instead grabbed Jane’s hands. “Hey, I have an idea, follow me.” She led Jane up flights of stairs to the open roof and grinned. “Bella and I used to do this when I was little.” Gently taking Jane’s hands, Lina placed one on her shoulder. She carefully placed a hand on Jane’s waist and slowly started to move her gently around.

“So what do you humans call this?” Jane smirked. 

“Dancing.” Lina smiled softly. 

Jane pulled back slightly, “Don’t you need music for that?”

Laughing, Lina shook her head. “Music is overrated anyway.” She carefully led Jane around in lazy circles, humming quietly to herself. 

Jane leaned forwards slightly, resting her head on Lina’s chest. “We can’t do this. We have to stay focused. We can’t just take the time to be this frivolous anymore.”

Lina sighed, continuing to lead Jane around. “You don’t have to chase one goal endlessly. What happens when you finish this? You just go on to the next chore like an errand boy.” 

Jane jerked up, fire in her eyes. “I am no one’s errand boy. Beloved just sends me away cause he loves me. He does. He loves me.” Lina could see Jane wasn’t just trying to convince her of that fact.

“Okay, but we can still take a little time to just relax. You don’t need to go 100% every day.” Lina murmured

“Maybe.” Jane breathed, disbelief heavy in her voice. Slowly, Jane started to ease into the swaying motion and proved to be rather graceful. Lina smiled while Jane giggled and twirled like a little girl. Still humming under her breath, Lina pulled Jane back towards her and then dipped her gracefully. 

Jane hadn’t done anything like this before, she felt breathless and excited and...happy. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered when being happy had become a surprise to her. Jane pulled on Catherine’s front, and exhaled a breathy laugh. Looking up at the sky, Jane could see stars like diamonds blinking back at her. She gasped and Lina followed her gaze, smiling. 

“Y’know, humans used to say that the stars made pictures. And each of those pictures had a story.” Catherine said, wistful.

“Do you remember any of the stories?” Jane asked.

Catherine looked back down at her, “No, but maybe we can make up our own.” Chuckling, she moved her hand from Jane’s waist to point at the sky. Jane listened enraptured as Catherine started making up a story on the fly about a dog who was looking for its ball.

“I think that looks more like a cat.” Jane teased.

Catherine rolled her eyes, “I think all that saltwater affected your brain, it's obviously a dog.” the two of them bickered back and forth, and at one point Jane was laughing so hard, she had to lean her forehead against Catherine’s chest to try and compose herself. Catherine tensed for a moment, and Jane started to pull away, when she felt Catherine relax once again. She smiled and looked up at the taller woman. Jane could see the stars reflected back in Catherine’s dark eyes, and wondered if she was blushing just as much as Catherine. The human’s cheeks were dusted with pink, a strange colour that fascinated Jane. 

She reached up and brushed a thumb across Catherine’s cheek, who caught Jane’s hand and pressed a soft kiss to the fingers. Jane was sure she was flushed completely gold at this point and she stammered slightly. She watched as Catherine leaned in slightly and Jane knew what was happening. She was sure of it. Letting her eyes flutter shut, she waited for the soft press of Catherine’s lips against hers. She waited, and waited, and curiosity got the better of her. She blinked, then looked up at Catherine questioningly. Catherine had paused, head tilted slightly, right above her lips. Jane resisted the urge to close the distance and instead waited. 

“Ah, your husband is going to have a talented dance partner when you go home.” Catherine pulled away and stepped back. Immediately Jane felt the loss of Catherine’s presence right down into her soul. That was...strange. Jane opened her mouth to say something, anything at all would do, but nothing came out. She just stared after Catherine’s back as she disappeared down the stairs, shrugging off her suit jacket. Jane slowly sank down to the cold concrete floor. Staring back up at the stars, she tried to sort out her muddled feelings. She was married. She’d once had a son. She was in love. But in love with who? Henry? Jane shook herself. Henry was her husband. Of course she was in love with him. But as Jane let her eyes drift over the galaxies, she found herself missing her husband less and less, and wishing more than anything her new friend was there with her.

Lina sighed as she pulled off her suit jacket and dress shirt. It had been nice to revisit a simpler time, even if it was just for a moment. She ghosted her fingertips over her lips. What was she thinking. Jane was married. She wasn’t even human. And once this damned trip was over, Jane was just going to get rid of her. Lina dropped to the floor, leaning back against a wall. Jane was everything she couldn’t have, everything Lina could lose. What was she thinking falling for her? Lina closed her eyes and let her hand drop to the floor. Best to forget it all. As long as Lina didn’t act on anything, Jane would never be hers to lose. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope yall enjoyed! Drop a kudos or leave a comment, I love hearing from yall!


	14. New Friends, New Allies, New Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lina meets some old friends and Jane is unsure. Anne finds what she'd looking for. so does Kit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YALL I'M ALIVE!!! AND I BROUGHT A NEW CHAPTER!! Haha, sorry its kinda longer than what I usually write.  
> Anyway, I hope this chapter is up to snuff haha, I worked pretty hard on it. Big thank you to my friend Rowan who created the newest colony in this chapter. They're @Spooner7308 on tumblr, go check them out!

_ He rotated the image in his palm, considering it. The hologram was painfully clear and He snarled at the image of His wife, face flushed at something the damn human had said. Clenching His fist hard, the image shattered into tiny pin pricks of light. He dropped His face into His hands. True, He wasn’t the most faithful husband, but that was no excuse for her doing this to Him. _

_ He’d done her a favor. By declaring her dead, He had made sure her mission would be uninterrupted. This was how she was repaying Him? By betraying His trust? He stood, walking to his chest of things. He picked up the small gift she had wanted to give their son. Unwrapping the brown paper, a small carved wooden bear stared up at him. Chuckling under his breath, He crushed it in his hand like He had done to the hologram. It was her own fault He no longer had an heir. What had she been thinking, allowing their son to accompany her on a mission, especially to an ice planet? True enough He’d been the one to let the boy go in the first place, but He had sent the boy as an observer, not as an active combatant. He still remembered her wailing sob as their son was discovered dead, the desecrated mangled corpse of Captain Cleves curled around him as if to protect him. Lieutenant Parr cradling the boy’s body and Captain Cleves’ head in her lap, before picking the boy up to return him to his mother. Laughable. _

_ All things aside, she had failed Him far too many times. A failure had no place in his kingdom. “Tanabren.” He spoke, pulling out the small communicator he had. “Another Liren needs to be sent to the Earth planet.” _

_ “Of course sir, instructions to capture as before?” _

_ “No, there is no place for a failed commander in our ranks. Orders are to kill on sight.” _

_ “But sir-” _

_ “Tanabren,” He smiled, voice icily calm, “do you give the orders, or do I?” _

_ “You sir. I apologize sir. Releasing the third Liren sir.” _

_ He smiled, clicking the communicator shut and reopening one of His holograms. The face of the newest commander appeared in a glowing green. He gently reached out and touched the image. Perhaps it was time to find a new mate.  _

Morning came far too soon. Jane squinted into the harsh morning sun, hissing angrily under her breath. She stood, brushing rock flecks from her knees and stretched. Her back cracked and she winced at the loud noise. Tugging her black leggings back on, she wandered back downstairs. Jane’s ears pricked as she registered a slight rumble coming from her left. Glancing over, she saw Catherine, mouth slightly ajar, sleeping propped up against a wall. For a moment, Jane wanted to plop down next to her and bury herself in Catherine’s arms, where no one could hurt her and she’d finally feel safe. But that wasn’t going to happen. She sighed and instead went about stripping off the blue dress she’d fallen asleep in. where as yesterday it had made her feel beautiful, now it just felt suffocating.

As Jane started searching around for the tank top she’d thrown somewhere, she heard someone moving behind her, then “Jane why the fuck aren’t you wearing a shirt.” Jane turned around to see Catherine very pointedly staring at the floor, a slight dust of pink across her cheeks. 

Jane huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m getting dressed. Would you rather I walk around like this all day?” Jane was pretty sure she heard Catherine mumble something under her breath along the lines of  _ “I wouldn’t mind THAT much…”  _ But she couldn’t be completely sure. Jane rolled her eyes, and threw the dress at Catherine’s face. Unfortunately, Catherine easily caught it out of midair and raised an eyebrow at her. Jane strode away with the last shreds of her pride intact.

Catherine watched as Jane stormed away, and set the dress down next to her. Sighing, she went to go check on their supplies they still had left. Neither of them had been eating much, and what they had managed to scrape together hadn’t exactly been appetizing. Plus their water was running low. Sitting back on her haunches, she sighed, ruffling a hand through her hair making it messier than it already had been. Glancing towards Jane, she noticed something vaguely shiny on her back. Standing, Lina walked over, steps quiet. As she got closer, Lina realized what the shiny patch was. Taught, spidery burn scar tissue that spread over Jane’s right shoulder and down her side. Across her shoulder blades were branded the words, “Survival first, show no weakness.” Lina’s eyes widened as she recognized the words. They were the same ones Jane had been whispering to herself over and over that night at the hospital, and the same ones displayed proudly back at the ship. Almost unintentionally, Lina slowly reached out a hand, brushing her fingertips over the ruined skin. 

Immediately, Jane hissed, flinched away, and whirled around. “What the fuck Catherine?” 

Lina backed up, “Sorry, I was just- I didn’t mean- I’m sorry.”

Jane didn’t say anything, she just finished pulling her light blue tank top back over her head, and then turned around to face Lina with her arms crossed over her chest. “Y’know, it’s rude to stare.”

Hesitating at first, Lina eventually asked, “What are those burns from?”

“A failure.”

“What about the words?”

“A reminder not to repeat the failure again.”

“What was the failure?”

Jane smirked. “The reason for the burns.”

Lina rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Jane you’re talking in circles. Do you just not wanna answer the question?”

Jane sighed, “Why do we always have all of our emotionally charged conversations early in the morning. I’m too tired for this.”

Shrugging, Lina sat heavily on the floor, pulling their pack of supplies over to her and rifling through it. “Just thought I’d ask, there’s no need to bite my head off.” Pulling out an ancient trail mix bar, she unwrapped it and bit off the end. She coughed and spat the mouthful onto the ground. “We’re gonna need better supplies. We can’t survive off of this shit forever.”

Jane plopped down next to her. “Well where can we go? I don’t think food or water can just appear out of thin air.” 

Lina grinned, slinging her pack over a shoulder and standing up. “We’re gonna visit some of my old friends.”

Jane wasn’t convinced about the whole “Visit Catherine’s old friends” thing. From her experience, humans didn’t like her much. As she followed Catherine out of the broken building, she was reminded of the events that had transpired the night before. She paused, then started, “Catherine? Um, about last night…”

To her surprise Catherine cut her off. “Nothing happened. We watched the stars, we talked. That’s all.”

Jane stiffly nodded. “That’s all.” she numbly echoed. The ensuing silence was unbearable. 

Kit was sure she’d had enough. Hours upon hours of sifting through the blue cubes had yielded nothing to her. She’d seen more death than she’d seen before in her entire short life, and she still wasn’t done.  _ “Focus!”  _ she berated herself.  _ “You’re gonna do one good thing with your life at least.”  _ She fell back onto the floor and pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes. In frustration, she sat up, picked up one of the blue cubes next to her, and threw it at the shelf behind her. 

A clatter and a thud brought all the cubes crashing down into her head. Swearing under her breath, she pushed the cubes off of herself, when one caught her attention. It was feebly playing, but playing nonetheless. She carefully picked it up, and gasped. The memory was Anna’s, that she was sure of. She could see the edges of Anna’s bangs through the blue light. She watched as Anna squinted into the harsh snow. Anna was running, whether it was too something or from something Kit wasn’t sure, but the heavy panting grated at her ears. As Anna rounded the corner of an icy shelf, Kit noticed the unmoving lump Anna was heading directly towards. Straining to see, Kit thought she caught a glimpse of blonde hair. Jane? No, the figure was too small to be Jane. So who was it? Kit question was answered as Anna breathed a sigh of relief, the sound crackling through the minuscule speakers of the cube. “Edward.”

Anne unrolled the maps of the areas her scanners had created. From interrogations of the prisoners, she’d discovered Cathy’s suspected killers amongst their ranks. The same humans from the video. She’d had them taken away to a more private area, she’d enjoy dragging every last confession and apology from their cracked and bloodied lips later. She sighed, pouring over the maps tirelessly. She still wasn’t sure where to hit next. She’d allowed some humans to escape to spread the word of Anne’s unbeatable army, but that also meant her element of surprise was ruined. She needed to hit the humans hard where it counted. As Anne scanned the maps for any place that would be suitable for her next attack, her gaze fell on a labeled colony to the north. Iron Clan. Anne smiled. If their name had any merit, Anne supposed that the colony in question was where the humans created their weapons. If she could capture them, the humans would have no way to fight back. Perfect. She looked up to where Cleves stood at perfect attention at the door. 

“Tell the troops to gather, we move out as soon as possible.”

Catalina hummed softly under her breath, carefully weaving through the underbrush. She’d been checking the trees periodically, looking for any hint of the people she was looking for. It was getting harder to see as dusk fell, and she squinted into the dark. She could hear Jane trailing behind her, perfectly comfortable in the dark and not having to make any effort at all to be quiet. Jane confused her. One moment she was snarling and pushing Catalina around, the next moment she was staring up at Lina like she’d hung the moon. 

She was so preoccupied in her thoughts, she didn’t notice the small burned makings in the trees around her. Catalina continued to be consumed by her thoughts until Jane spoke up, saying, “What are these symbols in the trees?” 

Catalina turned, confused, and started to walk back towards Jane, when a rustling noise from their left caught her attention. Immediately, Jane tensed, looking for all the world like a tiger waiting to pounce. The rustling sound stopped, then movement burst out of the trees. Lina slung her axe down from her shoulder, ready to strike, when Jane beat her to it. Jane snarled, and leapt at the nearest thing to Lina. Jane and the humanoid went tumbling into the underbrush, Jane hissing and the other creature yelling in a muffled voice. Lina turned her attention back to the rest of the ambushers, then blinked. She lowered her axe and grinned. “Bessie!”

Bessie laughed, striding forward and wrapping Lina up in a rib-crushing hug. “Hey! We’d heard some bad news come from the south, but I guess you really were okay.” Smiling, Bessie added, “I knew you would be.” Bessie was dressed in a stained white muscle shirt, with thick leather gloves and a similarly tough apron to match. As always, tools hung from her belt, except for her hammer, which she was holding loosely in one hand. An eyepatch covered her left eye, a visual reminder of the danger faced in the new world. 

Crashing back out of the bushes, Jane shoved another human into the small clearing. “Are they hostile? Should we be worried?” Jane watched Lina curiously, and Lina laughed.

“No they’re not hostile. These are the friends I was telling you about.” 

Jane winced slightly. “Oh. Whoops.”

The figure Jane had tackled spoke up. “Whoops is right, we were just coming to see who was coming into our territory and take you back to see Joan.”

“Maria!” Catalina swept her friend up into a tight hug. 

Maria laughed and hugged her back. “It’s been a while since you last came to visit huh?” Maria had her hair swept back into an old bandana, and her face was covered in soot smudges. Her previously olive green t-shirt was now more burn marks than fabric and her waist apron was still tattered.

Shrugging, Lina chuckled. “Well, been a bit busy. Believe me, it's a long story.” 

Jane was awkwardly standing to the side, fiddling with a loose strand of hair, and Catalina remembered why they’d come. “Maria, do you think we could talk to Joan about getting supplies for a trip? I know it's a weird favour, but we don’t need much.”

Maria smiled and tugged Catalina along. “Of course! Joan will be happy to see you, we have so much to catch up on.” Catalina smiled, it was good to be back amongst the company of friends. 

Jane wasn’t quite as happy about being amongst the humans as Catherine was. Being the lone member of her species in a camp full of humans wasn’t exactly her idea of a good time. She followed after Catherine, staring at everything, trying to absorb as much information as she could. The previously tree covered landscape tapered out into a large flat plane. Jane could spot pens containing large creatures that reminded her of the pack beasts back home. They had sharp curved horns, a little like her own, but jutting out to the side instead of back. They looked to be slightly fuzzy and soft, with large brown eyes. Jane wandered slightly closer, when a voice yelled at her. 

“Hey I wouldn’t touch them if I were you.” Looking around to see who had spoken to her, Jane was the dark haired human watching her. She huffed. She wasn’t going to touch, just observe. How dare that human act like she was stupid. Jane wandered back to the group and they continued on.

Small shacks and tents were crowded together in small clusters and humans milled about in packs. Other buildings seemed to be in much better condition, large halls decorated with an emblem of one of the strange creatures' heads, with a crossed hammer and pick and the name of “Iron Clan” branded beneath. Wanting to ask more about this place, she began to jog up to talk to Catherine, when she realized the human was completely occupied with her old friends. Jane frowned, for some odd reason, she felt slightly hollow, but she pushed it down. She could deal with that later.

Jane saw open air buildings with other humans working inside them, hammering away at some kind of metal. Shaping it and molding it. Humans sure were strange, but resourceful creatures. She hummed under her breath as they walked on. As they walked Jane was continuing to people-watch, when she saw something strange. “Bessie?”

Bessie turned back to her, “Mhm?”

Jane pointed back at one of the smithies. A humanoid creature with burnt red skin and slightly pointed ears was working there. They had orange markings, almost like lava cracks racing up and down their arms and Jane watched as they pulled a red hot chunk of metal out of the flames with their bare hands, and plunged it into the water to cool “Why is there a hoenshu here on Earth? I thought you only had humans here?”

Bessie scratched her head. “I don’t know, they said they were hiding from something, or someone.” 

Frowning, Jane pressed on. “Isn’t it strange to you that they’re not human?”

Bessie laughed. “Nah, Gary may not look like your average human, but they asked us for help. Plus they can grab molten metal with their bare hands and carry around an ox like it weighs as much as a couple of grapes. Who are we to say no?” 

As they walked on, Jane could spot more and more non-human creatures amongst the humans. There certainly weren’t many, but they had a presence. She could feel their eyes on her, and she tried to keep her head up. Some she didn’t recognize. Others, she recognized all too well. The ones from planets she’d either ordered the harvesting of, or done the job herself. And now they were here, still running from her. Perhaps a week ago the fact so many had run and hidden on such a backwater planet would have angered her. She’d have called them cowards and ordered their massacre. But now? She just felt vaguely guilty. They were just trying to get by, and live in peace. Something her army would have never allowed. 

Finally, they came to their destination. A large central hall made mostly of pine logs. Maria walked forwards and pushed open the heavy double doors. Seeing her chance, Jane hurried over to Catherine’s side. “Catherine? How long are we staying here?”

Catherine frowned. “I was hoping for a while, at least until we’re rested and healed up. Why?”

Jane looked around them, before locking eyes with a tall alien with short blue hair and long floppy ears. They glared at her before stalking away, presumably to do a job. “I don’t like it here, it feels...unsafe.”

Turning back towards her, Catherine crossed her arms over her chest. “Are you kidding? This is the safest place you could find. We’ll be fine.” Turning back around Catherine followed the other humans into the hall.

Jane hesitated, then followed her, whispering. “You’ll be fine. Me? I’m not so sure.”

Catalina wasn’t sure what Jane was so worried about. Sure she was amongst a lot of humans, but it was almost like karma. Lina had been one of the sole humans amongst the Rashadi, and now the tables were turned on Jane. She pushed the thought out of her mind, and chatted with Maria about any new news she’d missed as a captive. Apparently a lot had happened in those five days she’d gone missing. The food and supplies her colony had been sending to this colony had eventually run out and confusion had run rampant. A scout had been sent back to Lina’s colony to find it in temporary chaos. Lina was glad to hear that Hendriks had taken temporary control. He had a good head on his shoulders and she trusted him. 

Apparently, as Maria recounted the tale with occasional interjections from Bessie, her colony had almost been a riot zone, with people completely prepared to head on attack the Rashadi and demand her and Kit’s safe return. Hendricks had talked them out of it, pointing out that it would be suicide, and instead said they should focus on gaining allies. “And if you do need us to deal with your...guard dog, we’ll be happy to do so.” Lina had shaken her head, pointing out Jane was her only insurance Kit would stay alive. What she didn’t tell Maria or Bessie was that her feelings concerning the Rashadi leader were growing more and more complicated by the minute.

As they rounded the corner of a long hall, Lina smiled. She recognized where they were. At the end of the corridor, she could hear two bickering voices rising above the sound of roaring flames. 

“No dumbass, it’s still too thick!”

“It’s fine! And if it’s too thin I can’t add the finishing touches!”

“The point is for it to be functional, not pretty.”

“Fuck you it can be functional and pretty.”

Maria laughed and Bessie rolled her eyes. Turning back to Lina, Maria said, “I’ll let you talk to her on your own. Have fun.” Maria walked away, while Bessie hung back. Lina leaned against the doorframe and waited for the two to notice her. The shorter of the two was currently holding a red-hot blade. The other was standing across from her in front of the forge gesturing angrily at the blade. The woman holding the blade was dressed in a white dress shirt and black vest with blue jeans tucked over black boots. She was wearing thick black gloves and a soot stained white apron. The other woman was in a half open set of overalls and had a charred red bandana around her neck. Various tools stuck out of pockets and she had a set of goggles on her head.

Finally, Lina knocked on the door frame and the woman in the black vest jumped slightly, almost dropping the metal she’d been holding. Whirling towards the door, the women spotted Lina and Jane standing awkwardly behind her. 

“Catalina!” 

“Joan!” Catalina laughed as Joan walked over. “I haven’t seen you in ages, how’ve you been?”

Joan laughed. “Oh I’m fine? How about you though? I heard you got kidnapped and killed by some blood thirsty aliens.” Jane coughed quietly.

Lina shrugged, chuckling lightly “As you can see, I’m not dead.” Joan rolled her eyes and laughed. 

“Lina, would you please tell Joan that she’s completely blind and this blade isn’t too thick?” Maggie called, a smile betraying her grumpy words. 

Joan mockingly pouted, then spotted Jane. “What’s she doing here. We don’t harbor her kind.” Joan’s voice turned hard and Lina blinked in surprise. 

“I’m guiding her to find something? Plus how do you know what Jane is?” Lina explained. 

Joan frowned. “We get plenty of interstellar refugees who come to us. Lots of them have all sorts of horror stories about her kind. People aren’t gonna be happy that she's here. She needs to go.”

“ _ She _ has a name you know.” Jane snarled.

Lina turned around and put a hand on Jane’s shoulder. “Look, calm down. We can find somewhere for you to hide.”

Jane jerked away from Lina’s touch. “I’m not hiding. That’s what a coward would do and I’m not a coward.” 

Speaking up again, Joan interrupted, “Look, we can give you shelter for maybe a day or two, tops. And then you have to go. We can get the supplies you need.” 

Lina turned back to her friend. “Thank you so much Joan. We’ll be out of your hair as soon as possible.” Joan smiled, then turned back to shout some more at Maggie about the thickness of the blade they’d been working on. 

As Jane and Lina walked away, Bessie leading them to where they could stay, Jane looked up at Lina and said, “She only had one leg.” Lina nodded. Joan had lost one of her legs in an accident. The colony here, better known as Iron Clan, specialized in metal work. Considering they didn’t have anyone to buy metal from, they mined their own. Joan had gotten caught up in a collapse and barely survived. Afterwards, she built her own prosthetic from the ground up.

“Yep, what about it?”

Jane paused, then said, “Why is she still around? Wouldn’t you humans have already cast her out by now?” before Lina could explain that no, humans don’t throw out people cause they’re not useful 24/7/365, Bessie jumped in. 

“Look, I don’t know what kind of fucked up planet you come from, but we don’t just get rid of people cause they need a little more help. Sure Joan has days where she needs someone to help her around because her leg hurts alot, and she's not as fast as she used to be, but she’s the most brilliant mechanic, engineer, and leader we have. And even if she wasn’t able to work, we’d still help her because she’s our friend and it’s the right thing to do. Okay?” Jane looked rather taken aback by Bessies’ outburst, and didn’t say anything else as the human walked away. 

Jane blinked up at Lina. “I said the wrong thing didn’t I?” 

Lina sighed and brushed a hand through her wild hair. “Kinda, but I get it. It must be weird to you huh? Especially with your whole ‘show no weakness’ thing” Jane nodded. “Well humans are stubborn to a fault. We’re not just gonna give up on somebody just like that.” Lina watched Jane as Jane processed what she’d said. She looked almost melancholy, which confused Lina slightly. 

Bessie eventually led them to a smaller tent and Lina threw her stuff down onto one of the open cots and collapsed down onto it groaning. Hesitating momentarily, Bessie turned to Jane and said, “I’m sorry that I blew up at you, we’re just protective of our friends. I know humans must not quite make sense to you.” 

Jane stared at Bessie. “You’re apologizing to me? I- thank you, but I’m also sorry. What I said was tactless.”

Bessie shrugged. “Plenty of other aliens have to take some time to get used to humans. It’s alright.” she paused, “This doesn’t mean I want you here though. Joan’s right. You guys should leave as soon as you possibly can.”

As Bessie turned and left, Jane looked over at Catherine who had quickly stripped off her jacket and jeans and was now laying with an arm thrown over her eyes and was trying to sleep. Briefly, Jane considered joining her and curling up next to her like she’d done back at the hospital. She pushed the idea out of her mind. Jane doubted Catherine wanted to talk to her much at the moment. She’d made that perfectly clear back at the mall. Jane sat on the cot on the other side of the tent, pulled off her jacket, and swung her legs back and forth trying to occupy herself. The dull rumble of activity painfully reminded Jane of old memories back on homeworld. It sounded so damned similar to the quiet roar of the markets and Jane felt suddenly homesick. She whimpered quietly and curled her knees up to her chest. 

Catherine raised her head up and blinked tiredly at her. “What’s wrong?”

Jane shrugged. “Just...tired I guess.” she shuffled around and laid down, still curled up and facing the wall. 

She heard the creak of ancient wood and felt the cloth behind her bend down. Catherine’s arms wrapped around her front and wrapped her body around Jane’s curled up form. Jane tensed as Catherine settled down. “Oh sorry do you want me to go? I just assumed cause you said you were tired that maybe you’d want me to- well…” Catherine stammered, starting to get back up. 

Jane caught Catherine’s hands and pulled her back down. “No, you just surprised me. Please, stay.” Catherine settled back down behind her. “Hey, Catherine?”

Sleepily, Catherine murmured “Mhm?”

“One of those humans called you Catalina...I thought your name was Catherine?”

“Oh,” Catherine smiled, “Catalina is what my name actually is. Catherine is just the anglicized version. I’m actually from Spain.”

Jane hummed quietly. “So neither of us are really from here.”

“No, so I can understand feeling homesick.”

“I’m not homesick. I’m just tired.”

“Sure Jane,” Catherine yawned and tucked her face into the top of Jane’s head, “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Catalina woke up the next morning with blonde hair in her face. She carefully untangled herself from Jane, ignoring the quiet whine coming from the other woman at the loss of contact and body heat. She picked up her clothes and started getting dressed. Lina sighed, what had she been thinking? If this was how Lina was attempting to get over her crush, her plan wasn’t working. But Jane had reminded her so much of herself as a little girl. Curled up and trying to be brave. She heard the blankets rustling, and when she looked over a shoulder, Lina saw Jane roll over in bed and then clutch at empty air. Lina laughed softly, and finished tugging on her jeans before walking over and sitting back down on the cot next to Jane. Jane immediately latched onto Lina. Gingerly, Catalina tried to remove Jane’s arms from her waist. She really needed to keep her distance from Jane, otherwise this crush was gonna have her whipped. Jane just grabbed on tighter and Catalina could’ve sworn she started purring. No longer having the heart to try and move the sleepy woman, Lina resigned herself to being stuck a little while longer. 

After about an hour, Joan threw open the tent flap and strode in. “Are you decent?” Catalina yelped in surprise, and Jane made a disgruntled noise at being disturbed. Joan took in the scene, and then cackled. “Damn i wish i could record this, this would be amazing blackmail for later!” 

Catalina reached over and threw a pillow at Joan. “Oh shove it, what did you need?”

Joan easily caught the pillow, stuck her tongue out at Lina, and said, “Well it’s been a while since you’ve graced us with your presence, you wanna check out the mines?”

Lina nodded, “Sure why not, it gives us a chance to just have some down time.” Jane mumbled something about needing to keep moving, but Catalina just ignored her. “Do we have to move out now?” 

Joan shook her head, “You guys have about a half hour before we’re heading down so get dressed and get ready.” As she left the tent, Catalina looked down at Jane whose head was still in her lap. 

“Hey Jane, you gotta get up, we're gonna go poke around the camp.” Jane made a muffled sound into Lina’s midsection that sounded an awful lot like an inordinate amount of swearing. “Jaaaaaaane. Get up.” More swearing. Finally, Lina just stood and dumped a shrieking Jane onto the floor. 

“Catherine! Rude!”

“What? You wouldn’t get up, so I made you.”

Jane grumbled as she clawed her way back up onto the bed. Lina finished getting dressed, and Jane quickly followed suit. Catalina headed out of the tent and squinted into the bright sunshine. The familiar bustle of activity made her wish she was back home with her friends, not still traveling and wandering around. She felt Jane press up against her side, and Lina started to move away when she felt Jane tense slightly. Looking down at her companion, Catalina could see Jane scanning the camp with a small amount of fear and worry in her eyes. Confused as to what Jane could be afraid of, Lina looked around the camp with a more critical eye. That was when she noticed it. Not every member of the camp was human, and those who weren’t were glaring angrily at them. More specifically, at Jane. Jane just squared her shoulders and tried to project a picture of confidence. 

As Catalina started making her way to the mines, she watched as Jane started picking up her pace and walking slightly in front of her. Catalina tried to match her stride, but Jane seemed to be purposefully outpacing her. Lina watched the woman closely, trying to puzzle out a reason for her behavior. As they passed one of the smithies, one of the few aliens saw Jane walk past, and purposely bumped into her. Jane stumbled slightly, but covered it up with an easy grace. As the alien walked away, Lina watched as they leaned down and hissed into Jane's ear, “Parasite.” Jane flinched, but otherwise didn’t react. Her face falling into a practiced and hardset neutrality.

Joan was waiting for them at the mouth of the mines. “Alright, a few ground rules. One, human, alien, whatever you are, no one takes their helmet off in the mines. If you take your helmet off I will personally throw you back to the surface. Two, carry a spare light source. Better to be safe rather than sorry. Three, don’t take anything into the mines you aren’t prepared to lose.” Catalina had taken off her flannel and left it back in their tent. “And four, don’t be too proud to ask for help.” Joan seemed to direct this last part at Jane, who met her gaze evenly. Joan broke off her stare and gestured over to a small group of humans laughing and chatting a little ways away. “Those people are gonna be our team today. They’ve been working in the mines for years, they know what they’re doing.” Joan tossed Lina a helmet, and then threw a second one to Jane. Jane blinked, then tugged the helmet awkwardly over her horns. 

As the team lead Jane and Catherine down into the mines, Jane shivered involuntarily. Catherine glanced down at her and Jane tried to still herself. “Are you cold?” Catherine’s voice held a surprising amount of concern.

Jane bit back a sarcastic remark. “Well, just a little.” She whispered instead. “I’m not used to chilly temperatures.” 

Catherine reached over and draped an arm over Jane’s shoulders and tugged her closer. She rubbed Jane’s arm, trying to create a little bit of friction. “That any better?”

Jane was thankful for the dark that was quickly overtaking them, otherwise Catherine would be seeing just how warm her face was at the simple gesture. “Y-yeah! That’s great!”

As they got further in, lanterns periodically glowed from various brackets, and the others were beginning to light up their own lanterns. One of the humans, a girl with white hair, tanned skin, and the shortest of the bunch, hung back to watch Jane curiously. 

“Don’t you need to ignite your lantern? The girl had a soft accent that Jane couldn’t quite place. 

“No,” Jane tapped the side of her face, “I’ve got darkvision.” 

“Ah, cool.” silence took back the mineshaft for a while, then the girl spoke up again, “I’m Anya, nice to meet you.”

“Jane, nice to meet you too.” 

“In case you were wondering,” Anya pointed out the others in front of her, chatting amicably, “those two are Hans, and Henry.” At the mention of the name Henry, Jane’s entire body seemed to freeze. To her slight surprise, Catherine pressed her closer into her side and started rubbing her shoulder again. If Anya noticed, she didn’t comment. “The literal giant of a man is Henry, but we all call him Percy. The other one is Hans. Both are sweet guys.” Jane nodded. Percy was a broad shouldered man, with dark skin and black hair tied back into a ponytail. Hans was shorter, with pale skin and coppery hair and a slightly fuzzy chin. Both were wrapped up in a conversation about something concerning the dwindling food supply and the increasing number of injured people. Jane just tuned them out. 

As they got further and further into the mines, Joan began talking to Catherine more and more until finally, Catherine left Jane’s side and walked up to talk with Joan a little easier. Jane shuddered at the loss of her source of heat. Finally they reached their destination. Anya looked over at Jane and smiled. “Welcome to the silver mines.”

Jane gazed in awe over the ravine in the earth. She could see small figures crawling over the rock face which eventually disappeared into a fast moving river. She glanced at Anya, “You work here every day?”

Anya nodded, “Yep, wouldn’t trade it for the world. It’s a little dark but it's good honest work.”

Jane lashed her tail behind her, “I don’t think I could spend all day without seeing the sun.”

Shrugging Anya turned away from the ravine edge. “You get used to it eventually.”

Hans and Catherine were talking quietly, something about the quality of the iron or silver or whatever they were trading. Jane really could’ve cared less. As the group moved on into a new tunnel, Jane’s ear flicked backwards as she heard a strange sound coming from the rock. At first she ignored it, but after 10 or so minutes, the noise got really annoying. “Hey Joan?”

Joan turned around, “Whats up?”

Jane frowned, “Should the rock be rumbly?” 

Joan paled, and started running out the way they'd come. “WE GOTTA GO NOW, BEFORE THE TUNNEL COLLAPSES.” Jane startled in shock, then sprinted out, easily overtaking the engineer and the others. The rumbling grew louder and Jane clamped her hands over her ears keening in distress. Small rocks began dropping from the ceiling and clattered against her helmet. A larger one cracked squarely across the left side of her helmet and shattered it off, taking with it Jane’s fake horn. Jane immediately turned on a dime and tried to go back for it. 

“JANE!” Catherine ran back and grabbed Jane around her middle, before carrying Jane with her.

Jane clawed at Catherine’s back, a strangled cry ripping from her chest. “NO, NO WE HAVE TO GO BACK. PUT ME DOWN OUT ME DOWN PUT ME DOWN PUT ME DOWN.”

Catherine just held onto her tighter and Jane snarled. Digging her claws into Catherine’s shoulder, she wrenched her midsection out of Catherine’s grasp and launched herself backwards. She sprinted past Percy and Hans who both stared after her in surprise. Jane was almost back to where she’d been hit, the ceiling collapsed. Choking back a sob, she reversed and instead ran back to Catherine. As she ran, she watched in no small amount of horror as Hans tripped and fell. She hesitated, her training screaming at her to abandon him and save herself. Survival first, and Hans would be a weakness to take along. Jane growled and picked up the man, hefting him onto her back and continuing to run down the tunnel trying to outpace the falling rock. 

Hans was shouting something, and Jane flattened her ears downward slightly, did the human think she was deaf? She could hear him just fine. “WE’RE ALMOST IN THE CLEAR. JUST A LITTLE FARTHER” Jane pushed herself a little harder, seeing the open cavern where the ravine had come into view.

Finally they all stumbled into the clear, Joan turning to yell to the people clambering to investigate the sound that all was well. Just a tunnel collapse. Jane let Hans fall off her shoulders and he fell to the ground with a thud. Jane sat down heavily next to him, panting. That's when she noticed Hans’ chest wasn’t rising or falling. “Joan!” Jane cried. Joan whirled around, eyes widening as she spotted Hans. Everyone sprung into action seemingly at once. Joan was immediately at his head while Catherine had fallen to her knees next to his chest. Jane stumbled back, watching the strange scene. Catherine had her hands pressed on Hans’ chest, pumping downwards to some beat Jane didn’t understand. The sickening crunch of broken bone echoed through the cavern as Catherine pressed hard. Joan was periodically pinching Hans’ nose shut and attempting to breathe air back into his lungs. Jane looked over at Anya, who had two fingers pressed to Hans’ wrist. 

“Why are you trying to save him? His heart stopped, he’s dead.” Jane couldn’t comprehend what was going on at all.

Catherine grunted with effort as she continued to push on Hans’ chest. “Like I said, humans are fucking stubborn. We’re not letting him go that easy.”

The longest minute of Jane’s life seemed to drag as they worked. Finally,  _ finally,  _ Hans hacked out a choking breath and his eyes fluttered open. Joan laughed and Anya practically sobbed with relief. Jane backed up, sensing she wasn’t part of this reunion. They made their way back up to the surface, Jane carrying Hans again, and Joan leading the way out. Joan led Jane to the colony’s medical center where Hans was bustled away. Not moving her gaze from where the nurse had disappeared to, Joan said, “Thanks for saving him back there.”

Jane shook her head, “No, I just watched, you humans are the incredible ones. You brought someone back to life.”

“That’s not what I mean.” Joan sighed, “You could’ve left him back in that tunnel. But you didn’t. Hans is alive because of you.” 

Jane didn’t say anything for a while, but then murmured, “I guess I’ve changed.”

Jane and Joan parted ways, Joan to speak to other members of the colony about new reinforcements for the tunnels, and Jane to find Catherine. Catherine was waiting for her at the entrance to the medbay. “You okay?” Catherine asked. Jane didn’t answer, simply wrapping her arms around Catherine, holding her tight, and not moving. “Ah, do you wanna go on a walk?” Jane nodded into Catherine’s chest. They spent the rest of the day talking quietly, planning their next move, and just chatting. Jane started calling Catherine by her favoured name, and that she liked to draw when she could find the time. Jane in turn told Catalina about homeworld, and about what she missed.

That night, as the sun dipped below the horizon, Jane and Catalina joined the rest of the colony around a roaring bonfire. Jane at first flinched away from the heat, but was willing to stick around and sit with Lina a little ways away from the main hubbub. Catalina had left to go and find them something to eat, and had returned with two wooden bowls of some kind of golden, creamy stew. Jane sniffed at it, and it smelled exactly like the old spice markets back home. Sharp and aromatic, with a distinct undertone of cooking meat. Gingerly, Jane picked up the flat bread that Catalina had also gotten and dipped it into her bowl. 

“Come on, it’s not poisoned, I promise.” Catalina laughed. Jane watched as Catalina scooped up her own mouthful of stew, chunks of some kind of unfamiliar meat weighing down the bread. Catalina popped it into her mouth and Jane carefully tried to imitate her friend. The stew tasted as good as it smelled and Jane dove into the rest of her meal with gusto. 

Properly fed, Jane relaxed back into Catalina, tail lazily swishing back and forth as she leaned her head against her shoulder. As Jane reached up to brush her hair behind an ear, she felt the jagged edge of her broken horn, no longer hidden by the cuff. Her mood considerably dampened and she stiffened slightly. 

Catalina noticed the sudden shift in Jane’s posture and whispered, “What’s wrong?”

“I lost something back in the mines, in the collapse.” Jane mumbled. 

Looking down at her Catalina asked, “Your cuff?” Jane nodded. “I think you look better without it.” 

Jane’s head jerked up. “No, you don’t understand! I _ need  _ it! I have to have it!”

“Need it? Why?”

“It’s- it's just really important okay?”

Catalina cupped Jane’s face in a hand. “I think it might be more than just really important considering the way you went completely feral after it. Was it a gift?”

Jane sighed. “No, a reminder. One reminder of many that beloved gave to me”

“A reminder? Of what?” Catalina questioned.

“Of how I killed the heir to the throne. My son.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope yall enjoyed! Drop a kudos or leave a comment below, I love hearing from yall!


	15. Erlken, part one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane explains her story. Not everyone gets a happy ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey yall!! Haha this chapter really should be titled "The author projects onto Jane Seymour waay too much for 8k words"  
> Anyway, if it wasn't clear, this is a flashback chapter because I'm lazy :))  
> Warning, this chapter deals with IPSV (Intimate Partner Sexual Violence) and death. If either of those things are triggering to you, please give this chapter a miss.  
> I saw a reply to a comment on a youtube video that Jane could never have been sexually assaulted because she loved Henry. And you can't get assaulted by someone you love. I could spend ages pointing out everything wrong with that, but I'll just leave this chapter here and move on. Have fun reading!

_ Jane Seymour hated failure. That much was a well known fact amongst her army. It was said that she’d learned her husband’s coldness, but inherited her father's temper. No one knew how true the last claim was. John Seymour had left to find his fortune in the Capitol, leaving Jane in the care of her cousins when she was only 3. Jane hadn’t cared to look for him when she moved to the Capitol, deciding he wasn’t worth the dirt she walked on. Jane had never suffered a failure before, boasting a perfect track record of missions, and she wasn’t about to end that record now. _

_ As the small carrier ship brought Jane and a small team of Rashadi down to the surface of the newest planet marked for harvesting, Jane pushed down a shiver. The air was absolutely frigid and ice and snow whipped past her face almost cutting her cheek. She snarled out orders to the soldiers standing at her side, watching with impatience as they hurried to execute her demands. Jane clasped her hands behind her back and surveyed the scene before her. Rashadi in cold weather gear scurried around setting up weaponry and shelters. Turning back into the ship, Jane ducked into a private meeting room. Anne and Cathy were in the corner looking over some holograms containing maps and data, though Anne seemed much more focused on watching Cathy than the data. Anna was lounging in one of the chairs placed around the meeting table, feet kicked up onto the surface.  _

_ “Hey Seymour, how’s it look out there?” Anna asked.  _

_ For a moment, Jane smiled and allowed her mask to slip, just slightly. “It’s bitterly cold out there, we’re going to be freezing our tails off if we stay long.” Jane uncrossed her arms from over her chest, relaxing in the presence of her family. _

_ Anna snorted derisively. “It can’t be that cold.” _

_ Looking up from the holograms, Cathy snarked, “We’re on an ice planet Anna, all the bravado in the worlds can’t keep you warm from negative temperatures.” _

_ As Anna and Cathy began debating over how cold an ice planet really was, Jane walked over to her second in command. “Well Anne? Are we ready?”  _

_Anne snapped off a smart salute, before reporting “We should be ready to harvest within the hour. Our machines should be set up quickly and our teams are ready to go.”_ _  
__Jane nodded, satisfied with the answer, before asking, “Any inhabitants?”_

_ Laughing, Anne replied, “Who would want to live somewhere so miserable?” _

_ Anne was right. The weather here made Jane believe it was impossible for anyone to want to stay, let alone live on a planet this cold. She smiled. “The Erlken harvest is well underway.” _

_ Eventually, Jane left the meeting room to continue on to her quarters. She closed the door behind her, walked over to the bed, and collapsed onto the sheets. Throwing an arm over her eyes, Jane sighed, hoping to soak up all the warmth she could while preparation was still being done, before she’d have to go out into the freezing cold. As she was about to get up, Jane felt the mattress press down around her as someone pinned her to the bed. Bursting into action, Jane grabbed the person above her, throwing them bodily into the far wall. The figure snarled and leapt at her, crashing them both onto the bed. The person had the advantage of weight, strength, and height, and Jane could tell she wouldn’t last long in a battle here. For a long moment, the two figures stared at each other, before bursting into laughter. _

_ “Well my dear, you certainly put up a fight.” Henry laughed. _

_ Jane mock pouted, lightly pummeling his chest, “You scared me! Don’t do that!” _

_ Placing a hand over his chest in a fabricated moment of shock, Henry gasped, “The greatest general Homeworld has seen? Scared? Well I never!”  _

_ She shoved him over, still laughing. “Oh hush, you know what I meant.” _

_ Henry smiled, “Of course I do beloved.” Jane smiled back, curling into her husband’s side, letting her tail slowly intertwine with his. Henry smoothed down her hair, the action soothing Jane and making her drowsy. _

_ “I have to go soon, I have to check on preparations for the harvest.” Jane murmured half-heartedly.  _

_ Henry turned over and hugged her close. “My love, it can wait. Erlken can be patient a little longer.  _

_ Jane let herself relax into her husband, cherishing his warmth. After a moment, she realized his hands were playing with the clasps on her uniform. “Henry?” _

_ Pausing, Henry glanced at his wife. “What’s wrong?” _

_ Jane started to sit up, but Henry pushed her back down. “Henry what are you doing?” _

_ He smiled, all charisma and charm, just like when they were younger. “I’m making you feel better. You seem a bit down.” _

_ She pushed on his chest, trying to move his bulk. “Not now Henry, I have things to do and I don’t have time. Maybe tonight we can-” _

_ Henry pressed a finger to her lips, silencing her. “I know you have a burning sense of duty, and I respect and admire that, but you need to relax. This will be quick I promise.” _

_ “I’m still not sure, I really think we should wait…” Jane was cut off by Henry softly pressing his lips against hers. As his hands continued to make quick work of her uniform, Jane sighed internally. Really she wanted to go, but she supposed that if Henry really wanted it, she could let herself be delayed a little longer. As the back of her head hit the pillows, Jane just let her mind wander. Perhaps if she could just relax, maybe she’d enjoy it too. _

_ Anne was waiting for her commander outside in the blistering cold. Seymour was taking her sweet time, and Anne was starting to get impatient. She was putting everything on the line for her younger cousin at the moment. Her career, her life, her mind, and her love. Anne smiled fondly, thinking about Cathy and how after years, she’d found her again. If all went well, Anne had a surprise for Cathy after this mission was done, when they’d all hopefully be on leave. Mind drifting away from Cathy, Anne began to rock back and forth on her heels. Finally, after what seemed like ages, Jane strode into view. She looked the picture of a leader, except…. _

_ “Your waist cape is on inside out.” Anne pointed out bluntly.  _

_ Jane flushed, and immediately righted the garment. “Do you have it?” _

_ Nodding, Anne handed over the small key card. “Took me ages to find it, much less make a copy.” _

_ “Thank you Anne.” Jane didn’t smile, or hug her like she might have done when they were small. Instead she just turned on a heel and left, leaving Anne in the snow. Anne sighed. She had a few hours before the officers would be required to be present for debriefing after noon. She turned and left, planning to spend a little time resting before she’d be fighting for her life out there. _

_ Anna watched the young boy laugh and stumble over to her. Smiling, she let the boy grab her hands and lead her over to a set of building blocks. He laughed excitedly, clapping his small hands. “Do it again! Do it again Miss Anna!” _

_ Anna chuckled and quickly built up a small block tower. The boy turned, and grabbed his small stuffed animal, a plush version of one of the many animals from back on Homeworld. He ran, tripping slightly, and crashed through the block structure. Tumbling into Anna’s lap, he laughed happily. _

_ “Again!” He crowed. _

_ Anna smiled fondly, “I wish I could Eddie, but I have to go soon.” _

_ Edward sat up and pouted. “But Miss Anna, I wanna go with you, I wanna be brave!” _

_ She ruffled his hair before saying, “Sorry kiddo, the battlefield is no place for a child.” _

_ He tugged on her coat, “Father says that I’m gonna be a great warrior someday. Just like my momma. Then when I’ve won a bunch of battles like her, father will come and play with me too! I’ll never know if I’m actually great if I don’t fight in a battle too someday.”  _

_ Anna stared sadly at the five year-old in her lap. So young and already being taught that he was supposed to find glory in war, or find none at all. She wished desperately Jane was here with her. “Well, someday I’ll take you with me. Not today, it’s too cold.” _

_ Edward sighed, “It’s so booooring in here! Father won’t let me stay home cause he says it's dangerous. I could be ass- assa- ...killed. But I have friends back home and none here.” His bottom lip wobbled dangerously and Anna could tell tears were imminent. _

_ “You have me don’t you? Plus you have Miss Anne too. Aren’t we your friends?” She asked teasingly. _

_ Immediately they boy perked up. “Oh yea!” He giggled and clapped his hands. “But, you have to go soon.” His ears drooped once again.  _

_ Anna sighed, giving in. “I guess I can stay a little longer.” Edward cheered and scrambled out of her lap, dragging Anna over to another toy he wanted to show her. Anna watched the boy proudly display his stuffed animals like soldiers and bit back a sigh. Jane would love to be the one watching this. But after Edward’s birth, Henry had squirreled him away, fearing Jane would love the boy more than him. Anna exhaled heavily, Henry probably would’ve been right about Jane loving her son more than him. In those few precious moments where Jane had seen her son, Anna saw more love in Jane’s tired eyes than she’d seen in years. _

_ Cathy hurried out into the snow, trying to find her destination. She slid her mask up over her face, trying to block out the chill that seeped into her bones. Scanning the surrounding area, -she clutched her tablet close to her chest. If she was correct, this planet wouldn't be Jane's masterpiece. It would be a nail in her coffin. Cathy finally came to one of the stations that had been set up for the officers. She exchanged polite hellos to a few she knew from school, then continued searching for Jane.  _

_ Finally she saw the familiar blonde hair at the back of the tent, hunched over some maps and battle plans. Cathy walked up next to her, saluted, then said "Ma'am, you're going to need to look at this." _

_ Jane looked up at her, face completely neutral. "Yes Lieutenant?" _

_ "The research team has found something new that will present a problem for us." _

_ Tapping her foot impatiently, Jane snarled, "Well? Out with it." _

_ Cathy sighed. "We weren't aware of this before, but we were wrong. There are humans living here." _

_ The Rashadi around her all went silent. She could tell this was completely unexpected. Most of the time, Rashadi stayed away from ice planets because they were at a huge disadvantage. Fighting here would be a nightmare. Possible, but still a nightmare. The only reason they were even here was because they’d thought it was uninhabited. All the officers looked to Jane, waiting for her orders. Jane straightened and turned to Cathy.  _

_ "Thank you for your report. This information is incredibly valuable to the empire. However," Jane turned to the rest of the officers, "This changes nothing. A few space rats can't stop us. We are the greatest galactic empire anyone ever had the privilege to lay eyes on. We will not be stopped." Jane thrust her fist into the air at her last words, and the Rashadi around her did the same. Some were clapping, some were cheering. Cathy just stood in the back, watching her friend rally her troops.  _

_ As she disappeared from the tent, Cathy sighed. Jane was overestimating herself, and her troops. As she squinted into the snow, Cathy went to go find Anne. If Jane was going to get them all killed, Cathy was going to do her damned best to keep the one person who meant everything to her, alive. _

_ Jane turned back to her plans, talking quietly with her officers. If there were humans living here, then the weapons they'd brought along should make quick work of them. Rashadi did fight with tooth and claw, but that didn't mean they didn't have access to powerful weaponry. As Jane started ordering the officers to find scouts for a mission, she heard someone walk into the tent. Expecting it to be Cathy, Jane didn't turn, instead finishing with her plans. A hand fell on her shoulder and Jane hissed.  _

_ "Seymour, how soon can we attack?" _

_ Jane immediately tensed. She spun around to face her beloved. "Your Majesty." She bowed, attempting to salvage her pride. "We should be ready by dusk.” _

_ Frowning, Henry replied, “Not soon enough. I need the first attack force in 3 hours.” _

_ Jane paled. “Your Majesty, we won’t be prepared enough if we’re rushed. You can’t-” _

_ Jane choked as Henry slammed a hand down on the table, pinning her to it. “I didn't ask your opinion Seymour. Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do. I gave you an order. And that order was to have the first attack force ready in 3 hours. Do. I. Make. Myself. CLEAR!” Henry roared the last word, flecks of spittle spattering Jane’s cheeks.  _

_ “Of course your Majesty.” She flinched ever so slightly, and prayed Henry didn’t notice. _

_ Henry noticed. “How DARE YOU.” _

_ “Your Majesty I-” Jane stammered as she tried to justify herself. The remaining officers in the tent scattered. Either knowing full well what a Tudor Temper Tantrum entailed, or not wanting to find out.  _

_ “I- I- I-” Henry stammered mockingly. “Get over yourself. Stop stuttering. You’re a soldier, an officer. You’re not allowed to show weakness.” _

_ Jane bowed her head. “I’m sorry Your Majesty.” _

_ He scoffed, leaning in closer to her ear. “You’ll report to our quarters as soon as you’ve prepared the troops in 2 hours.” _

_ “But that’s even less time than-” _

_ “2 hours Seymour. Keep interrupting me and I’ll rethink my offer.” _

_ “Your Majesty please don’t, I’m begging you please. You’ve denied me this for 5 years, don’t keep delaying it.” _

_ Henry suddenly stepped back, releasing Jane, watching her with steel in his gaze. “You want to see my son? Earn it.” He stalked away, leaving Jane breathing hard.  _

_ She closed her eyes for a beat, maybe two, then snapped, “I know you’re all still there. Get back to work. You heard His Majesty, the advance group moves out in 2 hours and we need a scout team out there now. Go go go go!” Officers started hustling back in, busying themselves with ordering around other soldiers to start getting squadrons together. Jane waited until she was once again alone, then dropped her face into her hands. The key card in her pocket felt heavy and she wondered if she’d made the right decision. No, she reasoned, it was too late to turn back now. If her beloved was going to keep denying her the ability to see his son, her son, Jane would take matters into her own hands. Surely Henry would have to understand. _

_ Anne walked back and forth in front of her squad, tail lashing back and forth in anger. Seymour had given them two hours to prepare for an attack, was she out of her gods damned mind? Anne stopped and turned to her squad, sighing. “Alright everyone. We’ve been asked to go out and see how many humans are out there. This is a scouting mission so no heavy blasters will be coming with us. If I even hear you breathing too loudly, I’ll drop kick your sorry ass back to base.” After a beat, Anne continued talking, “Now we’re going to go and scout out a human encampment our intelligence has located. All of you come back alive, or die trying. Any of you try to surrender yourselves to the enemy, I’ll shoot you myself.” There were solemn nods from the soldiers, returned by Anne. This was standard protocol for them. Cowardice was not tolerated, and surrendering was the height of weakness. Anne continued her small debriefing, finishing off with a simple, “Don’t die.” then walking off to prepare. _

_ As she stepped back onto the main ship to head back to her quarters, she almost ran smack into Cathy. Anne smiled when she realized who she’d bumped into, and gave Cathy a quick hug. “Cathy!” She laughed, “I found you again!” _

_ Cathy rolled her eyes, chuckling. “Anne you saw me maybe an hour or so ago.” _

_ “Still, can’t I be excited about the fact I get to see my beautiful girlfriend again before I leave on a scary mission?” Anna grinned, tone light-hearted.  _

_ However, Cathy didn’t seem so jovial. “Anne you need to be careful. Jane isn’t listening to me, and humans are a lot more dangerous than she thinks.” _

_ Anne sighed, leaning forward and bracing herself on Cathy’s shoulders. “I know. It’s not gonna be fun trying to attack in the cold, but being cooped up on that ship for days was making me antsy. It would be nice to get out and stretch myself for a little bit.” _

_ “But you’re not going.” _

_ Anne’s head snapped up to meet Cathy’s gaze. “What?” _

_ Cathy sighed, pulling out her tablet and showing Anne the new orders that had come through. “His Majesty has asked you to be present at Central instead of out at the attack. Something about needing more strategic minds in one room to deliver a decisive victory.” _

_ “His Majesty’s orders? I guess I can’t contradict those then…” Anne rubbed the back of her head, hesitating. _

_ Cathy tugged on Anne’s jacket sleeve. “No, you can’t. You know what he’d do if you outright disobeyed him. And I- I can’t lose you. Not again.” _

_ Anne gathered Cathy up into her arms. Pressing a kiss to the top of her girlfriend’s head, she whispered, “Of course. I’ll listen. I’m never leaving you again. I’ll always be there to protect you from anything, no matter what.” _

_ Anna carefully stalked across the pure white snow. After Anne had reported that she’d be remaining at base camp to conduct strategy from there, Anna had been made head of her squad. Not that Anna was complaining, she’d been longing for a little action, Anna just hated the cold. She’d grown up in the small town of Klena, a little market town, across a mountain range from the Capitol, along with Jane, Anne, and Cathy. Anna fondly remembered how the four of them used to tear across the dirt streets, scaling buildings and generally making a nuisance of themselves. However, Klena had been in one of the hottest parts of Homeworld, making Anna almost totally unaffected by heat, but twice as vulnerable to the cold. Not for the first time since they’d arrived on this gods forsaken planet, Anna wished she’d lived in the Khalani mountains like her father had originally planned. At least then she’d have some experience of this damned cold.  _

_ Glancing back over her shoulder, Anna motioned for the rest of her soldiers to follow. They moved as one silent unit, gliding over the snow, barely making a sound. Anna allowed herself to feel the tiniest glimmer of pride. Rashadi were the perfect hunters, and damn they were showing it now. Orange eyes glowing ever so slightly in the dimming light, Anna peeked over the edge of one of the snow drifts. There she could see a small camp of humans sitting around a fire. From what she could see, they seemed to be dressed in basic armor, and had little weaponry. Turning back to her troops, she tugged a hand out of one of her gloves and quickly signaled out the numbers and distribution of the humans. One of the soldiers, a tall rashadi with thick curved bull-like horns, nodded, then began to signal out his own message. Anna turned her attention back to the humans. They were strange creatures. With no advancements to assist them is surviving in any way, but they managed to hang on. Just like rats. _

_ Running a long pointed tongue over her chapped lips, Anna hummed thoughtfully. On the one hand, she would like to get out of there without confrontation, on the other, it certainly wouldn’t hurt their cause to thin the human’s herd. As she was mulling this over, she noticed two humans walking closer. She tensed, motioning to her troops to stay still. Not a muscle moved, and Anna was almost sure they’d gotten away unharmed, when one of the humans tripped over a stone and stepped hard on a stray tail. To the soldier’s credit, they didn’t scream, instead only hissing in anguish under their breath. But it was too late. The human quickly screamed, drawing attention to them and revealing their position. Two rashadi soldiers quickly grabbed the humans, holding them down, blasters pressed to their temples. Anna jumped up onto the snow drift. “HUMANS!” She roared, drawing the attention of every breathing thing in their vicinity. "WE WILL GIVE YOU ONE CHANCE TO SURRENDER. THROW DOWN YOUR WEAPONS." An arrow arced upward gracefully, then dived towards Anna's chest. Anna reached out and snatched the arrow from mid-air. She displayed it to her soldiers. "I guess we have their answer. Attack." _

_ The Rashadi surged up over the hill and into the camp. The humans who’d discovered them were quickly eviscerated and were left squealing like stuck pigs. _

_ Anna jumped into battle. This was her element. She slammed the butt of her palm into the nose of the first human who attacked her, then dragged her claws across the torso of the second. The first human got back up and grabbed her shoulders, attempting to drag her down. Anna drew her blaster from its holster, and shot them cleanly in the head . She tensed slightly as she watched more and more humans pour out of tents and into the snow. They seemed to be holding weapons made of ice, and were brandishing them threateningly at the Rashadi.  _

_ Taking in the scene, Anna laughed. She leapt at one human holding an axe, slashing out their throat before they could even scream. Around her, Anna’s troops were making mince meat out of the humans, easily taking them down. Anna wasn’t sure what Cathy had been trying to warn her about. These humans were pushovers. Anna was about to call out their victory, when she was them. More humans, these ones mounted on strange beasts with ice seemingly creating a natural armor on them. Grinning, she flexed her claws. At least this fight wasn’t going to be boring. _

_ Jane turned and walked back to the main ship. As she neared the entrance, she saw Anne kiss Cathy on the head. Jane scoffed under her breath. Such open displays of affection weren’t allowed. Jane brushed past the pair, pushing Anne into Cathy. Anne glared at Jane momentarily, but Jane didn’t react. Perhaps they could all play at being a family when they were alone, but when they were amongst the rest of her people, Jane couldn’t afford to look weak for even a moment. _

_ Jane bit her lip in anticipation as she rounded the corner back to the quarters she shared with Henry. Surely he didn’t want...well he had to still be satisfied from this morning. Perhaps he was just going to tell her off again. Jane hesitated for a moment, before squaring her shoulders. Why should she be afraid, it was just Henry, her beloved on the other side of that door. Henry, who would laugh and press kisses to her cheek, who would secretly hold Jane’s hand while they sat on their thrones. Who would go ever so silent when she didn’t meet his expectations, who would remind her of how she was a low born peasant and he could easily have her returned to that position, who hid Jane’s son from her. Jane realized she was trembling. Snarling quietly, she gripped her forearms and forced herself to be still. There was nothing to be afraid of. Nothing.  _

_ Jane pushed open the door, glancing around. Henry was standing at one of the windows, hands clasped behind his back. He looked contemplative, peaceful almost. “Henry.” she breathed in relief. “Beloved, I apologize for my transgression in front of the officers, I promise it won’t happen again-” _

_ “My love, didn’t I tell you never to question me?” _

_ Jane startled slightly. “Yes of course, and I never have. I’ve been loyal to you and only you.” _

_ “If you’ve never questioned me,” Henry crossed the room, closed the door, and pinned Jane to it, “Then what the hell was that back at the officer’s tent!” He roared in her face. Jane flinched, not responding. She didn’t trust her voice not to waiver. “I gave you everything! Everything Jane! And is this how you repay me?” his voice seemed to break and he kneeled, reached down and clutched one of her hands, pressing it to his face. Jane could feel hot tears tracing down his cheeks and the blood drained from her face. “Do you not trust me anymore? My love I promise, you will see your son. I just have to make sure he is everything a perfect prince should be. Why don’t you trust me? Why don’t you love me?” _

_ Jane broke. “Henry no I do love you, you’re my everything. I’m so sorry, I never meant to undermine you, I just wanted to know why you wanted to attack so early. Please believe me. You’re everything I ever wanted.” _

_ Henry looked up at her with watery blue eyes. “Prove it.” _

_ “W-what?” _

_ He stood, his large figure towering over her. “Prove that I really am everything to you. How do I know you’re not lying?” _

_ “Henry I...I don’t…” Jane was at a loss, unsure of what Henry wanted to hear. _

_ Henry slammed a hand on the wall next to Jane’s head, and Jane tried not to jump or flinch. “You should know! You should know what I want, what I need. You should know me!” _

_ On an impulse and out of desperation, Jane reached forwards and grabbed Henry’s face, pulling him into a kiss. Henry paused, then melted into it. Jane pulled away first, panting slightly, but Henry tried to press her back into it.  _

_ "Henry wait, please I need to report to Central for the forward attack-" Jane started, but Henry snarled.  _

_ He flicked a communicator out of a pocket and barked into it. "Tell Central that Commander Seymour will be busy for a moment. Her subordinate is to assume command until she returns." _

_ Jane pressed her eyes shut. Briefly she wondered why she wanted to be anywhere but here. Henry's lips pressed against her neck and Jane could feel his sharp canines slightly piercing the skin. She whimpered slightly, not daring to move. Henry picked her up, carrying her to the bed in the middle of the room. Jane clung to his chest, worried. "Henry wait, you already had your time this morning I don't wanna-"  _

_ "You owe me this. You trust me don't you? Show me you trust me." Henry hissed. _

_ Jane grabbed his shoulders, claws digging into the heavy cloth. Henry's fingers swiftly pulled the buttons from Jane's coat, stripping it off of her. She gnawed at her lower lip as Henry reached down and pawed at the simple tank top that was blocking him from the rest of her body. As he ripped it from her torso, Jane whined softly. She ached for his touch, but at the same time she wanted to run as fast as she could, consequences be damned. Jane attempted to relax and enjoy the feeling of Henry's fingers ghosting across her skin. Hopefully he wouldn't make this too painful for her.  _

_ Anne drummed her fingers on the edge of the table she was standing over. On the one hand she was a little grumpy Jane had disappeared and left her alone. On the other, she was enjoying playing at Commander for the day. It wasn't something she wanted to do full time, (no she'd leave that to Jane) but it was nice to have everyone defer to her. She glanced over the holographic rendition of the landscape in front of her. Reaching out, Anne carefully took a small red figurine of a rashadi and placed it where she knew Anna was scouting.  _

_ "Cleves has not reported back, so we don't know what happened to that squad quite yet. However, we do still need to offer a peaceful surrender to the humans."  _

_ Cathy, standing at Anne's side frowned. "How are we going to get a message to them? I don't think I can get a drone out in this weather."  _

_ Anne looked out the window, watching the snow and sleet smash against the glass. She shuddered. "You're right...we could attempt to get Anna to leave one of the humans alive to send a message." _

_ An officer who Anne recognized as Charles shook his head. "We can't rely on the enemy. It's more reliable to send one of our own."  _

_ "No we can't throw away a soldier just for a message. We need everyone we have for this attack." Cathy pointed out.  _

_ Charles nodded, "I guess that's true. Are you sure we can't get a drone out there?" _

_ Sighing, Anne shook her head. "Like Catherine said, it's too cold out there to send any aircraft. The best option we have is sending someone on foot."  _

_ Charles crossed his arms over his chest. "I still don't believe we can rely on the enemy to send our message." _

_ Cathy nodded. "I don't trust them either, however it's our best shot with the least loss of life."  _

_ Anne pulled a communicator out of her pocket. "I'll send a message to Anna and tell her to find a human to deliver our message. Shouldn't be too hard." _

_ Cathy tapped away on a screen trying to track Anna's position. Anne was hovering over her shoulder watching her closely. After a few minutes of trying to work with Anne hovering, Cathy sighed and looked up at her girlfriend. “Babe, I love you but I really can’t concentrate with you watching me.” _

_ “Oh, sorry.” Anne backed up, kicking at the floor. Eventually she turned around and returned to one of the holographic maps, muttering about something with Charles. Cathy smiled and shook her head slightly, before returning to her screens. She finished tracking down Anna and pulled out a small metal ball. Logan, an intelligence officer she’d worked with looked over as the ball unfolded, clicking and whistling until a metal spider uncurled in her palm. They frowned, “Are you sure it’s safe to send those out? It’s still a prototype…” _

_ Cathy smiled. “Well, I’m not totally sure, but we’ll never know if they work unless we try them out.” _

_ Anne walked back over, curious. “What’s that?” She asked. _

_ Cathy let the metal spider the size of a large rat clatter off her palm and onto the table. “I call it a Liren. I wanna use them for little recon missions.”  _

_ Anne chuckled. “It’s kinda cute.” _

_ Shuddering, Logan retorted, “It’s creepy, not cute. Really Catherine did it have to be a spider of all things? Why not something actually cute, like a korail?” _

_ Cathy raised an eyebrow. “You think those huge striped cat things with literal tusks jutting out of their jaws are cute?” _

_ “Well, cuter than a spider anyway.” Logan pointed out. _

_ The liren clattered across the table, pointed legs stabbing through holographic mountains, and jumped onto the floor. “It should find Anna and give her our report.” Cathy said. _

_ “Why don’t we have that thing give the terms of surrender?” Anne asked. _

_ “Well we don’t want our tech to fall into enemy hands, but also it can’t speak, or really carry anything. So it wouldn’t be much of a messenger.” Cathy explained. Anne nodded and the three watched the liren scuttle out the door and off into the snow.  _

_ Cathy went back to tapping away at her screens, quietly talking with Logan. Anne was standing at the head of one of the holo-tables, eyes narrowed and concentrated fully on her task. Anne really was a brilliant tactician, she just had to spend most of her time waiting on His Majesty hand and foot. Cathy watched as more soldiers filed in and out, while Anne barked out orders left and right, sending some Rashadi running to prepare more troops in case they had to attack, and others running to prepare the cargo ships for the harvest. Cathy finished typing out a program on her tablet, mumbling to herself under her breath. As the time passed, Cathy was almost sure the liren had been destroyed, then she got a small notification. Immediately she tapped on it, feeling only vaguely disappointed when she realized it wasn’t a status report from her little machine. _

_ Instead Jane’s name blinked up at her. Curious, Cathy tapped on it. The message was brief, simply telling Cathy to send Anne up to Jane’s quarters. The strangest part? Jane directly addressed Anne by her first name. A huge breach of protocol, one Jane would almost never do. She walked over to Anne, carrying her tablet, and tapped Anne’s shoulder. Since they weren’t as alone anymore, she said, “Captain Boleyn, Her Majesty requires your presence in her quarters.” _

_ Anne’s eyes flickered with confusion, but she simply nodded. “Captain Brandon?” Charles looked up, “You’re in charge until I return. That is all.” Charles snapped off a sharp salute as Anne walked out of the room, shoulders back and hands clasped behind her back. Cathy felt her tablet buzz again, and looked down expecting another message from Jane. except this time it was she had been waiting for. She opened the video message from Anna, letting the tablet turn it into a hologram.  _

_ “Lieutenant Cleves, report.” Cathy said. _

_ Anna nodded, the snow slashing down around her obscuring her face slightly. “We found a human camp. They refused to surrender, so we wiped them out. We’ve left one alive as a bargaining chip.” _

_ “Let it go Lieutenant.” _

_ Arching an eyebrow, Anna said, “Of course, but may I ask your reasoning?” _

_ Cathy smiled. “We let it deliver a message. Tell the human to return to its leader bearing our terms of surrender. We can let it do our dirty work for us.” _

_ Anne nodded in understanding. “Alright Lieutenant Parr, I’ll have my men give the humans the terms of surrender, then we’ll release it.” _

_ Cathy watched as Anna turned and left, presumably to go deal with the human. Momentarily, Cathy thought about closing out the call, but decided against it. She wasn’t sure if she could re-access the cameras and Cathy didn’t want to have to find out the hard way. _

_ Anne wound her way up to Jane’s room. She hesitated in front of the door, unsure of what she’d find on the other side. Finally, after a moment’s deliberation, she knocked on the door. “Come in.” Jane sounded so quiet, so different from what Anne had become accustomed to, that for a moment Anne was thrown back to when she’d go check on Jane in their little bedroom back in Klena. Anne pushed open the door, and did a double take at the sight before her. Jane was sitting in the bed, knees drawn up to her chest, only in the covers. Her uniform was shredded on the ground. The worst part were her eyes, which were dull and empty. Anne sucked in a harsh inhale, before immediately crossing to her little cousin and sitting down on the bed next to her.  _

_ “Can I hug you?” Anne asked. Jane hesitantly nodded, and Anne wrapped her arms around Jane, who was shaking ever so slightly. Anne pulled back and searched Jane’s face. “Oh sweetheart what happened?” _

_ Jane shrugged, apathy dampening her every move. Gone was the façade of the fearless leader. Now Jane just looked 5 years old again, begging Anne to tell her when her Daddy was coming home. "What did I do?" Jane husked. _

_ "Hmm?" Anne murmured, confused. _

_ Jane curled into Anne's side. "I love him, so why does it hurt?" _

_ Anne hugged Jane's shoulders tightly, feeling Jane sink into her. "I don't know Janey." She pulled away and searched Jane's face. "Do you actually love him?" _

_ Jane's gaze snapped up to meet Anne's. "Of course I love him. Why wouldn't I love him?" _

_ "Okay, you love him. But does he love you?" _

_ Jane didn’t respond. She simply clutched at her own forearms. “He does.” Jane whispered.  _

_ “Jane this isn’t love. This is torture. You know that.” Anne pleaded. “You’re the only family I have left, I can’t let him destroy you.” When Jane didn’t respond, Anne sighed and stood, walking over to the small chest of Jane’s things. She removed a warm tunic and brought it back over to Jane. when Jane didn’t move, Anne carefully reached out and started to tug the sheets off of Jane’s shoulders. Jane squeaked and clutched the blankets back around herself. It reminded Anne almost painfully of they were small and Jane was still terrified of every loud noise or sudden movement. Anne carefully reached out again and slowly pulled the sheets down off Jane’s shoulders, pretending not to notice the harsh red marks covering her waist, chest and shoulders. Anne carefully pulled the tunic over Jane’s head and over her torso, letting her little cousin adjust it as she needed to.  _

_ It scared Anne seeing Jane like this. She’d gotten used to the Jane from the academy. Always eager to prove herself and willing to do anything for recognition. She’d even gotten used to the Jane who’d married Henry. The Jane who slowly became harsher and crueler. Jane crying or shying away like this wasn’t something Anne had seen in years. Part of her felt glad Jane hadn’t changed totally, part of her was horrified that anything could crack the hard walls her baby cousin had thrown up around herself. _

_ As Jane finished adjusting her tunic, she curled back up into Anne’s arms. Anne held her close and smoothed down her hair. “He loves me. He has to.” Anne heard Jane whisper.  _

_ Anne took her cousin’s face in her hands. “Sweetheart, this isn’t love. You need to wake up and see that. Someone who loved you would listen to you, they wouldn’t hurt you for no reason.” _

_ “But he did have a reason. I made him look foolish in front of the officers by contradicting him and that’s a weakness. I’m the queen, I can’t show weakness.” Jane said, shaking her head. _

_ “Jane all the ‘show no weakness’ stuff is bullshit and you know it. It’s just Henry’s way to control his kingdom cause he doesn’t know how to rule with compassion.” _

_ “That’s treason. Henry’s word is law and he’s always right.” Jane said flatly. _

_ Anne sighed. “Jane, do you even hear yourself? You sound like someone’s been messing with your mind! Henry isn’t always right. And he certainly isn’t right for hurting you for a simple accident.” _

_ Jane pulled her face from Anne’s hands, refusing to meet her gaze. “No, he’s right, he’s always right. And he does love me, if he didn’t love me why would he promote me to his right hand? Or make me his queen?” _

_ “You know why. He was just looking for a mate and an heir. That’s all. The only reason he promoted you was because he needed to keep up appearances. We both know you’re not cut out for military life.”  _

_ Jane’s eyes snapped back to Anne’s and she pushed her cousin back. “I got here all on my own. You’re the one who got your job out of nepotism, if it wasn’t for me, you would have been kicked out of the academy ages ago! I’m better than you in every way and you know it!” _

_ Logically, Anne knew Jane was just lashing out because she was scared and upset. Emotionally, Anne was furious. “Oh fuck you Jane, I have plenty of value as a soldier and a leader. Why don’t you go just sit on Henry’s dick? It’s all you’re good for when we’re on campaign.” _

_ Crack. Anne yelped at clutched her stinging cheek where Jane had slapped her. The blonde was shaking, tears silently rolling down her cheeks. “How. dare. You. I got here with hard work and effort. I was the one who dragged us out of that backwater town by my fingertips. Don’t you dare fucking invalidate that.” _

_ “Jane I-” _

_ “Don’t.” _

_ The cousins stared at each other, neither wanting to break their gaze first. Finally, after what could’ve been an eternity, Anne dropped her eyes down her lap. “I’m sorry Jane, I- I didn't mean it...” _

_ Jane pulled her knees back up to her chest, fidgeting with the ends of her hair. “It’s fine. I didn’t mean it either.” Silence stretched between them, _

_ Anne reached out again, taking Jane’s hands. Jane didn’t pull away, but she was shaking ever so slightly. “I don’t think you should go back to Central Command yet. You’re still fragile.” _

_ “No, ‘m not fragile, I just need a moment to collect myself.” Jane protested weakly. _

_ Anne thought it over for a moment, then steeled herself for what she was about to suggest. “What if you use that key card I gave you?” _

_ Jane blinked. “What?” _

_ Fidgeting, Anne clarified, “I think you could really use something to smile about, to make you happy. So why don't we do it now?” _

_ Eyes wide, Jane asked, “See Edward?” _

_ “No time like the present.” Anne chuckled ruefully. _

_ Jane hesitated, but then nodded. “I really do want to see him, but I don’t want his first impression of me to be a weak crying mess…” _

_ “Jane Seymour, you are anything but weak.” Anne smiled, rubbing her thumb over the back of Jane’s hand. _

_ Cathy watched, only half interested as Anna ordered the soldiers around, eventually sending the human captive off to deliver their message. Cathy fiddled with a small black rectangular device as she waited for Anna’s report. Henry had ordered her to make a device to further streamline the memory replacement process, and Cathy thought she had it finally figured out. Just as she was about to add the last touches to the device, she heard screaming from the holo-screen. Cathy whirled around, the other officers, craning their necks to see what was happening also. She quickly expanded the screen so everyone else could see. “Lieutenant Cleves! Status report!” there wasn’t a response. “Lieutenant!”  _

_ Finally, after what felt like years of waiting, but was probably only moments, Anna’s face popped into the screen. She had a head wound that was bleeding profusely, amber gold leaking down the side of her face and crusting in her hair. “Lieutenant Parr. Requesting back up immediately. We have our answer. The humans aren’t standing down.” _

_ Cathy nodded, turning to the other officers and marching up to stand among them. “We need to launch our first attack, who can we spare to get Lieutenant Cleves’ squad out of a tight situation?”  _

_ She was met with silence. Cathy frowned. “We can’t spare anyone?” _

_ Captain Brandon shook his head, “We need everyone we can get for the first assault. My squad is helping lead the charge.” other officers murmured similar things.  _

_ Cathy had about lost hope, when a younger officer, a second lieutenant, piped up. “I have some soldiers to spare, would that help?” Cathy looked over to Charles, deferring to him as the senior officer.  _

_ “Lieutenant Cleves is a fine soldier, if you can spare your men, go give her a hand.” The second lieutenant nodded, saluted, then dashed out of Central. Cathy watched him go, worried for her friend. As battle plans were set into motion, Cathy tried to block out the noise coming from the liren’s holo-screen. _

_ “PLEASE, SEND MORE SOLDIERS!” _

_ “NO I DON’T WANT TO DIE HERE PLEASE-” _

_ “DIE HUMAN SCUM! THIS PLANET WILL BE OURS!” _

_ Catherine tried to shut her ears to the screams of terror and rage, but to no avail. It was almost like watching an explosion. She couldn’t look away, no matter how much she wanted to. Cathy watched as her fears came true. These humans had adapted to live on this snowy planet. They had the advantage of home turf, the cold, and surprise. The rashadi had nothing but their own sheer power and number. What scared Cathy, was for the first time, she wasn’t sure if they’d leave this planet victorious. She chewed at her lower lip and prayed Anne would get back soon. _

_ Jane let Anne lead her down the halls, praying no one saw them. She supposed she should feel something, anything at all. Of course she felt apprehension, she was going to meet her son for the first time in 5 years, but when it came to Henry, she couldn’t feel anything. Jane searched for anything inside of herself concerning her husband. But there was nothing. No love for him, she couldn’t love him after what he did. Or could she? Henry had forgiven her every time she did something stupid. Why should it be different for her? Jane needed to love him, if she didn’t love her own husband, what did that say about her? She clenched her jaw and tried to put the thoughts out of her mind. _

_ As Anne led Jane to a plain steel door, Jane realized this was it. She was going to meet her son. As Anne held out her hand, Jane slowly passed her the key card. Anne swiped it in the scanner, then stepped back as the door hissed open. Jane walked in apprehensive. The room was mostly bare, with toys scattered across the floor. A small bed was in one corner, and it looked like it hadn’t been made in years. A young boy was sitting with his back to her, playing with a stuffed korail. He had strawberry blonde hair, and pale grey horns that were still the tiny nubs of youth. His tail swished back and forth across the floor, as he imitated roaring sounds while making the toy run across the floor. At the sound of the door hissing open, he turned around to see who’d come in. _

_ “Miss Anne!” He grinned and toddled across the floor. Anne kneeled down and hugged the boy. He turned and looked Jane up and down. “Miss Anne who’s this? A new playmate?” _

_ Anne smiled softly. “Sort of Eddie. I’d like you to meet your mother.”  _

_ Edward’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. “My momma?” He breathed. _

_ Jane knelt down next to Anne. “That’s right, I’m your momma.” _

_ “Father said I wasn’t allowed to see you. Not until I was stronger and braver. I won’t know if I’m brave unless Father lets me fight.” _

_ Jane choked back a sob. “I think you’re plenty strong Eddie. And I’m here now. I’m so sorry for not coming sooner.” _

_ Hesitantly, Edward shuffled forwards, still clutching his stuffed animal. “Can... may I have a hug?” _

_ Immediately Jane swept her baby boy up into her arms. Unable to stop herself, she cried. Tears traced down her cheeks and fell into the reddish blonde hair.  _

_ “Momma? Momma why are you crying? Momma don’t cry I’ll protect you.” Edward fretted. _

_ Jane laughed softly. “No, no they’re happy tears baby. Don’t worry.”  _

_ Edward clung to her shirt. “Please don’t go. I want you to stay. Don’t leave me again.” _

_ “No, no I’m never letting you go. Never ever. Never again.” Jane promised. She could feel Edward’s chest rumbling against hers in a quiet purr. She responded with a soft purr of her own, and Edward smiled. “Momma’s never leaving you again.” Jane whispered to no one in particular, “Ever.” _

Lina stared wide eyes at Jane as she finished telling her story. “Wait, that can’t be the end. What happens to Cathy? What happens to Anna? Plus you said-” 

Jane sighed, “No, you’re right, that’s not the end. But to be honest, it only gets worse from here.”

Lina reached out and squeezed her hand. “Hey, if you don’t wanna talk about it, we don’t have to continue.”

“I wanna finish telling you this.” Jane admitted, “It’s...nice to be able to talk to someone about it.”

“Then I’m willing to listen.”

Kit scrambled around for the next cube, grumbling under her breath. All she’d learned had come from disjointed memories, and kept having to scramble for the next cube in the series. Finally she found what she was looking for. Tapping the face of it, the familiar blue glow spun into the air, and the story began again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man I hope Eddie and Anna survive the next chapter. Be a shame if they didn't. :)))  
> Hope yall enjoyed! Drop a kudos or leave a comment below, I love hearing from yall!


	16. Erlken, part two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane's worst nightmare is realized. Anna can't save everyone. Anne can only watch. Cathy makes a very bad decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy! I'm sorry for not updating in a while, school just kinda slapped me in the face and I just couldn't find the time to write haha  
> Aaaaaaannyway, moving on, I think this chapter turned out okay. It's a bit long tho so...sorry about that
> 
> Warning, this chapter deals with major character death, needles, death in general, war crimes, murder, abuse both referenced and enacted and child death. Proceed with caution and stay safe.  
> wow holy shit this chapter sure is something...huh...  
> Love y'all!

_Jane wanted to stay like this forever, just keeping her son wrapped up in her arms and never letting go. However, she keenly knew that just by being here, she was putting them all in danger. Slowly and sadly, Jane let go of the boy, who looked up at her with wounded eyes. “Momma? Are you leaving?”_

_Jane wanted to tell him that no, she’d never leave him. She was going to stay here in this room with him forever. But she knew she couldn’t. “I’ll be back Edward, I promise.”_

_“Can I go with you momma?” Edward asked, excitement in his voice._

_Jane sighed, “No baby, you have to stay here. I’ll be back soon though, and then we can go explore the planet together. How about that?”_

_Edward pouted momentarily, before nodding. “Okay, but you have to come back soon. Real soon.”_

_Jane smiled, “Of course. I’ll be back real soon.” She kissed him on the top of his head, then slowly stood. As she turned to leave, she cast one last longing glance behind her. Edward was watching her leave, small stuffed toy clutched in his arms, loneliness clinging to him like a second skin. Jane choked back a small sob, and left._

_As soon as they were back out into the corridor, Jane looked up and down the hall, then pulled Anne into a bone-crushing hug. Anne choked slightly, then returned the hug. “Thank you.” Jane whispered._

_Anne chuckled. “Was it everything you dreamed of?”_

_Exhaling heavily, Jane broke away from the hug. “Everything and more.” She straightened, starting to walk back to her quarters. “We should be getting back to Central now.”_

_Jogging up to match Jane's pace, Anne interjected, “Hold on, don’t you think you should be resting and, y’know, recovering from what happened with Henry?’_

_Jane didn’t look at Anne. “Nothing bad happened. Like I said, he loves me and everything he did was alright. If there’s anything that I’d even need to recover from, I’ll deal with it all later.” She strode through the open doors and began to look around for a fresh uniform. Jane didn’t have time for hurt feelings. Best to shove it all down until the painful feeling withered and died. There was nothing else she could do._

_Edward watched his mother leave. He didn’t know quite what to think of her. She definitely wasn’t the heartless warrior his father made her out to be, but she wasn’t completely soft and gentle either. As soon as the door closed behind them, Eddie toddled over and picked up the key card that had been accidentally abandoned on the ground. Carefully, he pocketed it, and then turned back around to find his other toys. Maybe he would go out and find his mum again out on the battlefield. Then he could really show her how strong he was._

_Cathy watched, tension squaring her shoulders as she turned and ran out of the central command. Shouting was still echoing off the walls and Cathy had to get out of there to clear her head. She raced to her quarters and threw open the compartment where she’d stored the key for one of the hangars. Cathy shoved aside blaster chargers, shield capsules, and other various weaponry before realizing the key card was gone. Frantic, Cathy was about to turn the whole room inside out looking for the key when she heard a voice behind her. “Looking for this?”_

_Cathy spun, staring directly at King Henry. “Your Majesty!” She saluted and snapped to attention._

_“At ease Lieutenant.” Henry said and Cathy dropped the salute, still standing stiff. “I was looking for the key to hangar 6, and imagine my shock when I found it amongst your things.” Henry smiled, slowly circling Cathy, every word dripping with the false pretense of safety. “I was curious Lieutenant, whatever could you be hiding from the military? From me?” He grabbed Cathy’s chin and forced her to look up at him. “Lieutenant, I’d like you to take me into hangar 6 and show me exactly what you’ve been hiding.”_

_Cathy swallowed nervously, hands still firmly clasped behind her back. “Your Majesty I-”_

_“Oh I’m so glad you don’t mind Lieutenant!” Henry grinned, before letting his face lapse back into deadly seriousness. “Unless you have something to hide?”_

_“No! No your Majesty I don’t have anything to hide. I’ll take you to hangar 6.” Cathy practically tripped over her own words in her haste to justify herself. Nervously, she stepped out past the king, and led him towards the hangars. Cathy felt more than a little self conscious as she felt the stares of everyone on her back as King Henry walked beside her. She stopped in front of the large double doors labeled with a huge number 6._

_“Open this.” Henry barked, handing Cathy back the key. Carefully, she swiped the card through the scanner and tensed as the doors slid open. Inside the huge room sat years of stolen lab equipment and various projects. Cathy prayed to The Twins His Majesty wouldn’t kill her immediately. Henry walked over and circled the makeshift set up. “So, you built this?”_

_Cathy nodded furiously. “It’s all mine, Your Majesty. I was the only one who was stealing the equipment. Punish me.” She reached up and scratched at the back of her neck. Trying to keep her hands busy._

_Waving a hand dismissively, Henry replied in a detached tone, “I’m not stupid, I can tell you’re lying. Your girlfriend Boleyn had a hand in all of this also. If I’m punishing you, I’ll punish you both.” Cathy gulped, dropping her hands back down to her sides, feeling them tremble ever so slightly. Henry strode over to the small desk chair and sat himself down in it. Cathy winced imperceptibly as he kicked his feet up onto the table, almost crushing a wiring chip. “So, why did you build this and how did it go unnoticed?”_

_Cathy’s shoulders slumped, and she tried to keep her voice strong as she said, “I needed a quiet place to do my research, and the labs back on base were too noisy and crowded. Anne got me the card key so I could have a private place and work more easily.”_

_Henry laughed , throwing his head back, and Cathy could feel her heart thudding against her ribs. “If you needed a better lab, why didn't you ask me?”_

_“Y-your Majesty?”_

_He stood, walking back over to Cathy, and clapped his hands on her shoulders. “If my best engineer needs a better work space, then who am I to deny her that?” Cathy felt shell shocked. Only moments ago, the King looked ready to leave Cathy on this godsforsaken ice planet. And now she was his “best engineer”? She opened her mouth to say something about this sudden about face, when Henry beat her to it. “Now, tell me what you’re working on.”_

_Numbly, Cathy began to explain her many projects, finishing her presentation by explaining a small black cylinder with a long thin needle at the end, with a wire at the end that could be connected into a tablet. “So what is it for?” Henry asked._

_“It’s for the returned. Instead of trying to recount all their memories orally, we can just use the memory cubes and sort of re-download them back.” Cathy explained._

_Henry nodded, “Interesting. You can go now.”_

_“I- what?”_

_Turning to face Cathy, Henry smiled. There was no real friendliness in it, instead it was all sharp canines and threats. “I said you can go now.”_

_“But…” Cathy protested._

_Drawing himself up to his full height, Henry towered over Cathy, who froze in fear. “Leave.”_

_Cathy turned and scampered out of the hangar as fast as she could. She turned a corner and leaned up against the now closed doors. As she pressed her back against the cold metal, she opened her hand and looked at the small prototype she’d palmed off her work bench. Cathy clicked the switch on the handle, watching the needle swiftly jut out. She wasn’t sure what Henry wanted with her inventions, but she’d seen the way he used the ones she did show him. Cathy couldn’t let Henry get his hands on this one. She began to walk back down the mostly empty hall, passing by Edward’s room. Honestly it was more of a cage for the poor boy. Cathy would’ve continued walking, when she noticed something. The door was open. She dashed inside, looking around for any signs of a struggle. No obvious signs caught Cathy’s eye, except for a lone discarded key card on the ground. She picked it up and swore under her breath. She was sure this was Anna’s. Anna had always had a soft spot for Edward, and could never deny him anything long. If Cathy was right, she had to find both Anna and Edward before they both got killed. Whether by the enemy, the elements, or by Henry._

_Glancing over the mechanical wonders strewn over the table, Henry mused his options. He really did hate sabotaging his own missions, but this was necessary. Seymour had gotten too headstrong for her own good, she was beginning to question him more and more often which was dangerous. Plus Henry didn’t really need the resources from this planet. He chuckled under his breath recalling how he’d promised Seymour this would be the crowning moment of her military career in front of their entire court. How foolish she’d look coming home in defeat. Momentarily he pondered if he was really willing to sacrifice the lives of dozens of soldiers just to keep his mate shackled at home. Henry laughed. They were his soldiers. His to play with, his to use as he pleased._

_Henry fiddled around with the black speaker Lieutenant Parr had shown him. Humming under his breath, he clicked the small button and watched the device power up. Perhaps it would do the Lieutenant well if her equipment got a field test. He pocketed the keycard and left the hangar. On a whim Henry decided to glance into his heir’s room, to see how Edward’s studies were coming along. As he moved to open the door, he realized with a flash of anger that the door was already open. Henry slammed his fist into the keypad, effectively shattering it. He knew he shouldn’t have trusted that damned Lieutenant Cleves. She was much too affectionate with the boy and disregarded orders constantly. Glancing down at the black cylinder in his other hand, Henry grinned. Soon all of that would change._

_Anna stood over the body of yet another human. She roughly swiped the blood off of her face and rolled her neck. Looking over her soldiers, Anna smiled proudly and hopped up onto the corpse. “Alright everyone!” She barked, “Looks like we’ve mopped up everyone here. Now we could go back to base or we could use the boost given to us by the back so kindly provided to us to continue our charge. We’ve been given the go ahead for either, since the rest of the charge will be following soon. What do you think everyone?”_

_“CHAAAARGE!” Came the overwhelming response._

_Anna grinned. “Charge it is then. Everyone prepare yourselves, we move out in 3 hours.” Anna stepped down off the body, making her way to her small pack of things. She began to ruffle through it, looking for a new battery pack for her blaster._

_“Lieutenant Cleves?” Anna glanced up, then snapped to attention._

_“Captain Brandon.” she saluted. “Thank you for the reinforcements sir.”_

_Brandon smiled. “Of course Lieutenant. Now, I’ll be taking control of this squadron. We’ll be joining up with Captain Marshall to lead the attack into the heart of the human’s territory. Anna nodded, dropping the salute and returning her arm to her side. “Now, what I require of you is-”_

_“CLEVES!” Both Anna and Brandon immediately jerked towards the origin of the shout. Brandon’s hand drifting down to his blaster, Anna’s claws flexing dangerously. “Lieutenant Cleves!” Anna watched as Cathy crested the hill and visibly relaxed._

_“Lieutenant Parr, good of you to join us.” Brandon smiled, “Did you need Lieutenant Cleves for something?”_

_Cathy snapped off a quick salute, then responded, “Yes sir, Lieutenant Cleves is needed for a different mission.”_

_Brandon nodded thoughtfully. “Well, I suppose I could spare my best soldier for you since she’s needed for greater endeavors.”_

_Smiling grimly, Cathy said. “Thank you sir.”_

_Only slightly bewildered, Anna followed Cathy some distance out of camp before asking, “Cathy? I never got word of a different mission. What’s going on?”_

_Cathy grabbed Anna’s shoulders in a panic. “Anna, did you give Edward a key card to his room?”_

_Jerking back, Anna snarled “No! Of course not, why would I ever do that?”_

_Not quite meeting her eyes, Cathy murmured, “Edward’s gone.”_

_“What?”_

_“He’s gone Anna.” Cathy sighed. “His room was empty, and considering you were one of the three people allowed to see him and you were his favorite…”_

_Anna’s eyes widened in understanding. “His Majesty is coming for me, isn’t he?” Cathy nodded almost pityingly. “So? You’re the smart one here, what do you propose we do?” Anna questioned._

_“We have to get to Edward before Henry does. That’s our only option right now. Or escaping off planet and we both know that would never work.” Cathy exhaled heavily._

_Anna rubbed the back of her neck. “How are we gonna find him?”_

_Cathy’s eyes narrowed. “He’s alone, he’s young, and he probably doesn’t have a plan. Maybe he didn’t go far.”_

_“We should split up, we can cover more ground that way.” Anna suggested. Cathy looked ready to argue, but instead nodded. “What? You think I couldn’t hold my own out there?” Anna joked._

_“No, I have full faith in you, I’m just worried.” Cathy admitted, running a hand through her hair._

_Anna smirked and ruffled Cathy’s hair. Cathy had always been a worrier, spending many long minutes debating her all her choices. And though oftentimes it was endearing, sometimes it could get a little annoying. Like now, when Anna’s career, and life were both on the line. “Look, I’ll be okay, don’t worry about me. I can hold my own.”_

_Cathy huffed and pushed Anna’s hand away. “I know, just...be safe.”_

_Smiling, Anna began to turn back into the flurrying snow. “I will.”_

_Jane smiled grimly as she returned to her place at the head of Central. "Good to have you back ma'am." One of her officers saluted her. Jane nodded in response, then looked around at her other officers._

_"So, how's the first advance going?" She asked._

_The officer closest to her snapped to attention and replied, “All according to plan ma’am. We’ve been crushing them completely, even with the weapons that appear to be from off planet.”_

_That caught Jane’s attention. “What?”_

_Holding her gaze evenly, the officer clarified, “Off planet ma’am. Intelligence says there’s no way their weapons could have come from on planet since this planet doesn’t have the necessary resources to create them.”_

_“So who’s supplying them?” Jane mused, talking mostly to herself. Shaking her head slightly to clear it, she turned to the officer and asked, “Are the other squadrons prepared to charge?”_

_The officer nodded. “In fact we’re about to send them out now. Will you be joining them, Your Majesty?”_

_Jane pondered it for a moment, then stood. All of her best missions had been carried out in the field, and there was no reason for this to be any different. “Yes, I’ll take command of the next leaving squadron. Thank you.” The officer snapped off another salute, then turned and left Jane to consider her options. Theoretically, Jane could take the squadron deep into enemy territory for a quick and decisive victory, but at the risk of losing all of her soldiers. On the other hand, Jane could join up with the other squads, but take much longer and give the humans precious time to prepare._

_While mulling over her possibilities, Jane felt someone tap her on the shoulder. Jane froze, trying to make her shoulders release their tension before Henry perceived it as yet another slight against him. Slowly turning around, Jane could barely contain the quiet sigh of relief as she saw her cousin’s face instead of her husband’s. “I know you’re going out to fight, and I’m going with you.” Anne said, almost daring Jane to argue._

_“I don’t need a babysitter, Captain.” Jane arched an eyebrow imperiously, watching Anne’s reaction._

_To her surprise, Anne’s cold eyes softened slightly. “No, but maybe you could use a friend.” Jane didn’t argue, instead letting Anne follow her out into the frigid cold and off to speak with one of the squadron leaders about taking command as she often did._

_Anna sprinted through the snow, eyes searching the drifts for the familiar sight of strawberry blonde hair. The heavy snow had cleared up some, and Anna thanked the gods for that small reprieve. Narrowing her eyes, Anna swore she caught sight of the familiar reddish hair. She raced after it, jumping over the piled up drifts shouting, “Edward?”. The figure turned and Anna panicked, staring directly at the face of her king. “Y-your Majesty I-”_

_Henry glared up at her, before saying, “Lieutenant, fancy seeing you out here. Walk with me.” Anna, fearing the repercussions if she refused, hopped off the drift she’d climbed as moved to walk beside the king._

_“Your Majesty, what are you doing out here?” She asked tentatively, watching him for any signs of volatility._

_Henry didn’t look at her, but instead kept his gaze on the horizon. “Same as you Lieutenant. Looking for my heir.” Anna tried not to react, years of training the only thing keeping her surprise and fear from showing on her face. “Lieutenant, I’m sure you’re confused as to why I didn’t just join my mate on the attack, especially when everyone knew it would be a success.” Nodding hesitantly, Anna waited for Henry to elaborate. She watched as he continued walking for a while in silence, before striding out onto the ice and pulling out his blaster. “Well, to put it simply, the attack won’t succeed. I made sure of that.”_

_“What?” Anna blinked in disbelief. How could he be so sure?_

_“I made sure of it. The longer Seymour stays in the field, the more volatile she becomes and the less she’ll be completely obedient to me.” Henry fired the blaster into the ice, beginning to trace a shape in the shiny surface. “I gave the humans something special they can use. I’m sure you’ve heard of your friend Lieutenant Parr’s work for the military. I’ve been taking her inventions for the past year or so, though I just revealed my knowledge of it today.” Reaching into his pocket with his free hand, Henry removed a scrap of paper and threw it to Anna’s feet. She kneeled down and picked it up, confused. “She developed a machine specifically for the extraction of information and all I had to do was fiddle with it a little.”_

_As Anna read over the words on the sheet, her eyes grew wider and wider. The paper described plans for a speaker-like machine that would emit a frequency at such a high pitch, it would incapacitate anyone who heard it. A small scribbled message in the corner noted that considering the rashadi’s sharp sense of hearing, the machine would make an excellent torture device for information extraction. She looked up at Henry in horror. “No, no Cathy would never do this. Not on purpose. She wouldn’t want to hurt anyone.”_

_Henry barked out a harsh laugh, still trancing a shape in the ice with his blaster. “Oh Lieutenant, always trying to see the best in your friends. Alas, your ‘Cathy’ isn’t quite as innocent as she seems. As we speak, her invention is being taken to the human’s front lines to decimate the rashadi forces. Technically, I could have her arrested on the basis of multiple war crimes, like giving torture devices to the enemy, if I wanted to.”_

_“You’re willing to sacrifice and kill so many of your people for what? Keeping Jane locked down with you? You’re the king, it’s not as if she can say no.” Anna spat._

_Henry seemed to mull this over, before simply replying, “I want to break her. To break her spirit and make sure she never leaves my side again. What fun is there in a mate who only stays because she fears you? I want her to think I’m the only thing she has left. Frankly I’d love to watch the hope leave her eyes as she realizes how much of a failure she is, but I have more important matters to attend to.”_

_Backing away, Anna snarled, “You know, I could run right now. I could go and tell the Generals about your treachery. I could tell Jane. Why did you just reveal everything to me? You saw what happened to your father. Kings can be replaced.”_

_Before Anna could take another step, Henry slammed his claws into the shape traced in the ice, lifting out a perfect circle. He began to walk towards her, taking his time like a lion stalking its prey. Anna turned tail and ran, praying to the Twins she could outpace him. Apparently the Twins were busy elsewhere, because Anna cried out as Henry pounced on top of her. He rolled Anna onto her back and slammed the heel of his palm into her temple. Anna whined, watching stars dance across her vision. “You’re right Lieutenant, kings can be replaced.” He lifted her up by her throat and carried her to the hole in the ice. “But then again so can soldiers.” Anna struggled desperately, clawing at his hand. “You know, my brother would have had something poetic to say about this. The beauty of the ice, or the irony of dying at the hand of the one you were most loyal to.” Henry’s eyes grew dark and hard. “But I am not my brother, and I prefer actions to words.” He let go of Anna’s throat and she plunged into the icy depths._

_Anna struggled to right herself under the frigid water, trying to drag herself upwards. Before she could reach the surface, Anna heard the scrape of ice on ice and watched Henry push the ice disc back into place. Desperately trying to claw her way up to the surface, Anna could feel her lungs burning. She’d never gone swimming before, hell she didn’t even know how. And yet pure instinct helped Anna drag herself upwards. Fat lot of good that did her, she was still trapped under the ice. She raised her fists and pounded at the translucent ice, the cold sapping her strength and speed._

_As Anna slammed her fists against the ice, the cold seemed to drain into her bones and one of her hands seized and crunched against the hard jagged ceiling. Reflexively, Anna gasped, sucking down the freezing water. Somewhere in her cold and fear addled brain, Anna remembered her own blaster. Fumbling in the water, she unclipped her blaster with heavy hands. Pointing it up at the ice’s weak points, Anna sank weakened charge after charge into the water, desperation and adrenaline being her only lifeline now. Anna’s vision began to cloud as her lungs burned even more harshly. ‘No!’ she thought, ‘I can’t pass out now, I’m so close!’ The flashes of green light lit up her vision even as it faded. She could actually feel herself dying, limbs becoming too heavy to lift, lungs screaming for a breath._

_Anna squeezed the trigger again, only for the blaster to click and misfire. She was going to die down here, and no one would ever know. Slowly, Anna began to sink, letting darkness claim her, and opened her mouth, allowing the frigid water to rush in and fill her lungs. Perhaps in another life, she would actually be able to protect everyone. Anna closed her eyes, and sunk into blackness._

_Jane laughed, triumphant, standing over the body of yet another human. She was practically inches away from her victory and she basked in it. The human at her feet twisted and groaned, trying to claw across that snow and get away. Disinterested, Jane cocked her blaster and put a charge through its skull. The human didn’t move again. Stepping over the corpse, Jane surveyed the decimated front lines of the humans. Some were trying to scramble away from her forces, others were making hopeless last stands. Jane smirked, gazing out across the snow. As far as she knew, there were only a few humans left, and once these were dead, the planet would be prepared for harvesting. Just a few more minutes and she would be winning the finest battle of her military career._

_As Jane swept her gaze over her soldiers, she spotted a human still struggling across the snow. She sighed, might as well put it out of its misery. Jane strode over to the human and leveled her blaster at its head. The human twisted its body and stared at her with wide eyes, before barking out what seemed to be a set of orders. Immediately, like a herd of animals, the surviving humans raced away from the battlefield, leaving behind a slew of confused rashadi. Jane hesitated, before shrugging. She assumed this was just their retreat and simply shot the human in the head._

_A sudden noise caught Jane’s attention. Raising her head to see what the sound was, Jane watched, stunned, as the humans returned lugging some piece of machinery over the snowy banks. Anne paced over to her side, lifting a pair of binoculars up to her eyes. “Huh.” She said, frowning slightly. “Yknow, I swear that almost looks like Cathy’s handiwork.”_

_Jane shook her head. “Couldn’t be. Cathy wouldn’t be so careless as to let her work fall into the hands of the enemy. Plus, she only makes approved inventions.” Anne wouldn’t meet Jane’s eyes, instead lowering the binoculars and suddenly found the ground incredibly interesting. As Jane squinted to try and better see what the humans were doing, a loud screech ripped across the battlefield. Jane clapped her hands over her ears, pinning them back against her skull. Anne followed suit, the binoculars thudding into the snow. Eyes partially squeezed shut, Jane tried to see what was going on. The humans seemed unaffected, and instead began to walk amongst the fallen rashadi, putting them down like common animals. Jane fell to a knee, eyes watering from pain. No, Jane had to get up. She had to keep fighting. She couldn’t just stop now. Not when she was so, so, damn close._

_Anna’s eyes shot open as she clawed her way out of the shattered ice. There was no way she could be alive. And yet… she could remember two beings lifting her out of the freezing water, reminding her that her role wasn’t quite done yet. She had one last thing to do. She had to remember who she was. Anna gasped and shivered, the cold seeping into her bones and trying to drag her back down. She stumbled across the ice, gasping for breath, coughs expelling the last of the frigid water from her lungs. Clutching at her ribs, Anna dragged herself back into the chill, watching her breath cloud in front of her. She had someone to protect, and she wasn’t going anywhere until they were finally safe. Anna shakily walked across the ice, and back into the gathering storm._

_She shielded her eyes against the hail that was beginning to pick up, swearing under her breath as she struggled against the howling winds. Anna could actually feel her thin mask freezing to her face, sapping her warmth and her strength. She tore it off, letting the damp blue fabric be carried off by the winds. Climbing over the snowdrifts, Anna clutched at her ribs and stomach, wondering why her breathing hadn’t eased yet. Glancing back behind her, Anna’s eyes widened in surprise as she saw copious amounts of amber gold blood splattered across the jagged ice. Pulling her hand away from her body, she inspected the blood that was slowly transferring itself from her body and out onto the snow and all over her arm. Anna squeezed her eyes shut, and for a moment, she could have sworn she heard a voice in her ear._

_“Oh child, we do apologize. It does not feel good to die. But you have a mission, and you must retain yourself. However with every gift, there is always a price. You remember, but you will soon forget. We don’t do this for just anyone. Count yourself lucky or perhaps unlucky, it’s how you choose to see it.” Anna stared ahead into the swirling snow. She’d been brought back just to die again? No, no that couldn't be right. She’d survive, she had to. Anna had so many people she still had to protect. And even the gods could be faulty couldn’t they? With a painstaking intake of breath, Anna pressed her arm back across her front and continued walking._

_“Edward!” She shouted into the storm. “Eddie! Where are you?” It felt hopeless, the snow was falling so thick and so fast, Anna could barely see in front of her. Anna was almost prepared to collapse in the thick snow and give up. Let herself be buried, she was going to die anyway._

_Anna slumped over and knelt down in the gathering white powder. Then, “ANNA!” A high pitched voice screamed over the whipping winds, panic evident. Anna’s eyes snapped open and she scrambled upright, tripping over her own feet._

_“EDDIE?” She shouted into the winds._

_After a few agonizing moments that felt like an eternity, the voice called out again. “ANNA!” Anna raced across the snow, squinting into the lashing winds, before skidding to a halt in front of a curled up little bundle tucked away under an overhang._

_“Eddie? Eddie please be okay, please please please.” Anna begged as she carefully bundled Edward into her arms. His skin was freezing to the touch and he shivered against her. Anna stifled back a colourful amount of swearing, and instead ripped the fabric from her waist cape and used it to swaddle Edward._

_“Anna? You came…” Edward snuggled into Anna, clutching at the hood on her jacket._

_Anna smiled tiredly. “Of course I did schatzi. Why wouldn’t I?”_

_Shrugging listlessly, Edward didn’t reply, instead choosing to curl even further into the crook of Anna’s arm. Anna sighed and smoothed down his hair, wincing in pain as Edward’s elbow dug rather painfully into her abdomen. She tried to ignore the sticky feeling of blood slowly soaking even further into her jacket as she stumbled to her feet. Edward shifted in her arms but didn’t speak. Wordlessly, Anna began to walk. She had a pretty good idea of where home was, but getting there could prove to be a challenge. As she dragged her feet through the snow, Anna murmured, “Eddie, why did you run off? You scared us.”_

_“I wanted to fight, I wanted to show my momma I was strong too.”Eddie whimpered._

_Anna blinked in surprise, then chuckled softly, smoothing back Edward’s hair. “Oh schatzi, there are many types of strength. You don’t have to go out and fight great battles just to feel strong.”_

_Shivering slightly, Edward pointed out, “You fight in battles and you’re strong. Why don’t you be strong in other ways?”_

_Sighing, Anna murmured, “I’ve been doing this too long. I’ve forgotten how to do anything else.”_

_Jane struggled to her feet, ears still pinned back against her skull. Looking around her, Jane was taken aback at the carnage that surrounded them. “No…” she whispered, eyes filling with tears. “NO!” Jane roared, and launched herself at the nearest human, snarling at the crunch of bone under her claws. “NO NO NO NONONONO!” Jane launched herself at the next human, screaming in anger. “TODAY WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MY DAY! STOP IT!” The humans began to surround Jane, treating her like an animal they were trying to corral back into a cage. Jane wailed as what seemed like the leader of the humans brought the speaker contraption forward and shoved it in her face. She collapsed to her knees, snarling and hissing weakly, before falling to the ground, the soft snow cushioning her face. One of the humans kicked her in the ribs and Jane went skidding across the ice. The other humans, seemingly emboldened by this, began to follow suit and Jane flinched against the sudden assault on her head and ribs._

_Finally, Jane felt the cold press of a blade against her neck and closed her eyes. This was it, her greatest mission, a failure. Jane was a failure. She welcomed death, ready to end her journey. A moment passed, a second, and Jane dared to turn her cheek and look up. Instead of seeing her captors, Jane could see the towering figure of her husband standing over her. He bent down and picked her up off the ground, and Jane watched through half closed eyes as Henry fired multiple blaster charges through the speaker, then tore through the humans. Jane shut her eyes against the carnage, breath coming painful. Anne struggled towards her and grabbed Jane’s hand. Jane looked down at Anne, and Anne lopsidedly smiled back. When Jane pulled her hand away, she could see it was streaked with blood which was caking against her palm._

_As Henry finished devastating the enemy ranks, he turned on Jane, hoisting her up by the throat to look him in the eye. “What. Happened.” He snarled, claws digging around Jane’s throat._

_Jane squirmed in his hold, before gasping out, “I-I don’t know, they had some kind of technology from off their world. There was no way they didn’t have help-”_

_She was cut off by Henry slamming her to the ground, and Jane wheezed as she felt the air forcibly leave her lungs. “That isn’t what I asked dearest. I asked you what happened?”_

_“...I failed you. That’s what happened.” Jane hung her head as best she could._

_Henry tutted softly, “See now, doesn’t it feel so much better to just admit it?” He dropped her to the ground, and Jane clutched at her throat, coughing. Reaching down, Henry grabbed the small insignia pin on the front of Jane’s uniform. Jane made a strangled noise in the back of her throat as Henry, with one swift motion, tore the pin from her uniform, ripping the cloth in the action. She brokenly reached out, staring hungrily at the small piece of gold metal and the off-white scrap of cloth clinging to it. “As of now, Commander Seymour, you have been discharged from the military. You are dismissed.” Henry turned his back on her and began to walk away._

_Desperately, Jane reached out and grabbed the edge of Henry’s cloak. He spun, anger flashing in his eyes, when Jane interrupted him. “Beloved, Your Majesty, please give me one more chance. I won’t fail you again.”_

_Henry mulled it over, before sighing. “Alright, if you can bring me the planet Earth, then I can forgive you for this transgression. Now follow orders and report back to base” He pulled his cape from her grasp leaving Jane, Anne, and their soldiers in the snow._

_“Earth?” Jane whispered. She looked forlornly at Anne. “I’m never going to get back in his favour, am I?” Anne didn’t reply._

_Anna was pretty sure they were lost. She glanced around, desperate for someone to find them. Edward was sleeping peacefully in her arms, completely unaware of the torn open gash in Anna’s abdomen he was resting right next to. Anna stumbled and crashed to her knees in the snow, jostling Edward awake. He blinked sleepily, before yawning and rubbing his eyes with two little balled up fists. “Anna? Are we home?” Wordlessly, Anna shook her head. At this point, their best bet was to stay put until Cathy found them. She set Edward down in the snow with a quick order for him to stay put, and began to dig out a small cavern in the snow. Edward watched with rapt interest as Anna finished creating a small overhang, and pulled out a small flare, and lit it to ice over the inside. Anna pulled Eddie underneath the small shelter and set the flare outside where Cathy could see it._

_“Are we not walking anymore Anna?” Edward questioned, tilting his head up to look at her with wide eyes._

_Anna shook her head again. “We’re gonna stay put here until Cathy comes and finds us.”_

_“Oh. Okay.” Edward seemed mostly satisfied with the answer, and played about in the snow as Anna kept watch. The sky slowly turned from the soft blue of the afternoon to the dark indigo of dusk and Anna started getting nervous. Rashadi were hearty creatures, but even they couldn’t survive being out in the cold and wet this long, especially not a child. Edward had long since returned to Anna, instead curling up with her again and had fallen back asleep. Anna sighed and lit her final flare. She was beginning to lose hope, when she heard footsteps above them. Cautiously, she peeked out from the overhang, and stifled back a gasp. King Henry was standing above them, scanning the horizon. Carefully, Anna reached out and brought the flare back inside. She waited with baited breath as Henry continued to walk around above them. Just as she thought they were in the clear, Edward woke up again. Anna immediately pressed a hand over his little mouth. Edward began to protest, when Anna whispered in his ear, “There’s a very bad man above us, you need to stay quiet so he doesn’t find us.” Edward stopped squirming, and started at her, fear in his eyes._

_After what felt like years, the footsteps receded. Anna breathed a sigh of relief and removed her hand from over Edward’s mouth. Anna put the flare back and settled back down. Staring nervously at Edward, Anna tried to ignore just how cold his face had felt. Edward’s lips were coloured slightly blue and Anna could see him shivering, even though he valiantly tried to hide it. “Anna?” He whispered, “It's so quiet here.”_

_Anna paused, then murmured, “Do you wanna play something together? Like a snow fight? Or something else fun?”_

_To Anna’s concern, Edward shook his head. “No, I’m too tired to play. Can you sing something?”_

_Anna ran through her own mental list of songs, trying to find one Edward might like. Finally, she rewrapped their makeshift blanket around him, and softly began to sing, “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are grey.” Edward’s eyes drooped shut and Anna could feel her own eyes growing heavy. She supposed that the gods must have been right, she wasn’t going to last long. Anna just had to hold on long enough for Cathy to get here. “You’ll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.” Anna felt Edward’s grip on her hood tighten ever so slightly, and she choked. Pain flared through her midsection and she fell onto her side, bracing herself with one hand. She curled in on herself and around Edward, and hissed in pain. “Please don’t take….my sunshine….away.” Anna smiled softly and let her eyes flutter shut._

_Cathy swore gently under her breath. The scene before her wasn’t a pretty one. Just as she’d thought, Cathy had just been too late. Anna’s body was curled around Edward, almost as if to protect him, and copious amounts of blood spattered the snow around them. Edward wasn't moving either. Cathy watched silently, waiting for the tell-tale rise and fall of a chest, or the soft fluttering of a pair of eyelids. Nothing. She was prepared to give up, when Anna shifted. Immediately, Cathy rushed over, then hesitated. If Anna saw Edward, that could trigger some residual memories and make this next part a lot harder. Carefully, Cathy untangled Edward’s cold body from Anna’s arms and set him out of Anna’s eyeline._

_As Cathy returned, she heard Anna softly call out, “Hello?”_

_Cathy turned and replied, “Hello.”_

_Anna hesitated, then asked, “I’m sorry, where am I? And who are you?”_

_“My name is Cathy, we’re friends.” Cathy watched as recognition flickered in Anna’s eyes, and knew she had only moments until her memories began to return. If Anna remembered everything, including the part where she wasn’t completely loyal to Henry, Henry would wipe her with the still relatively rudimentary mind wiping tech they currently had. This was the safest option. The only option. At least that’s what Cathy had convinced herself of._

_Carefully, she clicked open the black cylinder and extended the needle before plugging in the other end into a synthetically made memory cube. “Gods I hope this prototype works.” she mumbled under her breath, reached behind Anna’s head, and sunk the needle into the back of her head. Anna jerked and convulsed in her arms, letting out a high pitched keening sound. Cathy gently removed the needle, and laid Anna back on the ground. Anna shuddered, then laid still. A few moments passed, then Anna sat up. Cathy breathed a sigh of relief, then asked, “Do...you know me?”_

_Anna stared at Cathy, blinking in confusion, then slowly started, “We’re friends, I know you from the academy.”_

_“Do you know anyone named Edward?” Cathy questioned._

_Anna thought about it for a moment, before replying, “No.”_

_Cathy smiled. The experiment was a success. As Cathy began to pick Anna up off the snow, she swore she heard a set of twin voices whisper in her ear. “You’ll come to regret that one day. She’s a tough one, doesn’t stay down long. She’ll find out eventually.” Cathy shook her head. It must’ve been the wind playing tricks on her. That was it._

Catalina stared at Jane as Jane finished her story. “I was only told later about what happened to Edward. And the only reason I know all of that is from the memory records Cathy made after she took them from Anna.” Jane whispered, the dying firelight flickering across her face.

Carefully, Lina took Jane’s hand, brushing her thumb across the top. “And now you’re here to conquer Earth for your husband in hopes he’ll love you again.”

Jane looked up sharply. “He does love me, he said so.” Jane sounded almost like a petulant child being told they couldn’t have a second helping of dessert.

Catalina sighed. “Jane, that’s not love, like Anne said, its torture.” she hesitated, before continuing, “You don’t have to follow him you know. You could say no. You could tell him Earth was impossible to harvest and leave us alone. You don’t have to be in the military. You could stay here. You could learn what love really is.”

Jane scoffed. “It’s not that easy. I can’t just leave. Plus how do you know what love even is?”

Looking up at Jane with an almost melancholy look, Lina said, “Maybe I don’t know yet, but I’d like to learn too.”

Hesitating, Jane didn’t respond. Instead she looked down to where Catalina’s thumb was still running over the back of her hand. “I don’t know if I can leave. War is all I know, it’s all I’m good at. It’s my life. And I can’t just abandon my people, they’re counting on me.”

Catalina gently took Jane’s face and tilted it up to look her in the eyes. “Jane, you don’t have to carry a whole world on your shoulders. You can start new here. You can stay with me. Let Henry deal with it for once.” She carefully wiped away a stray tear that traced it’s way down Jane’s cheek.

“I- I think I’d like that. If I could get away, I’d like that.” Jane admitted softly, but then her eyes hardened again. “But I made a promise to Anne. I can’t stop until we complete our mission.” 

Lina sighed. “At least think about it, okay?”

Pressing her cheek into Lina’s palm, Jane whispered, “Okay.”

Kit watched the blue glow fade. She stood, legs shaky from sitting in one position for so long. Now she knew what to do. The device Lieutenant Parr had used was still fresh in her mind. Kit figured it couldn’t be that hard to find and steal one, then return Lieutenant Cleves’ memories, her _correct_ memories, to her. She huffed slightly, thinking about how Boleyn had practically sung Lieutenant Parr’s praises back when she was still alive. As she hopped back up into the vents, Kit sighed. No one was truly a saint, no one was truly innocent. Kit knew that first hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope yall enjoyed! Drop a kudos or leave a comment below, I love hearing from yall!  
> Seriously, please do. I thrive off of comments, it's what helps me get chapters out faster. I read each and every comment and I love every single one.  
> Seriously, even if it's just a keysmash in the comment box, I LOVE YOU  
> Thank you!


	17. A Calm Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane and Lina do some last minute preparation before leaving the hospitality of Iron Clan. Anne does some preperation of her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> K well I tried to write fluff.Keyword there being tried. So uh....here we go!  
> anyways sorry this took a while to get out haha, hopefully the fact that it's a stupidly long chapter makes up for it  
> Hope it's alright!  
> Also, I did have some help with ideas for this chapter. Jane and Joan's interaction was inspired in part by my friend @spooner7308 on tumblr, so go check them out!

Anne clasped her hands behind her back as the skimmer raced over the ground. They were headed for a larger colony this time, and if all went well, this raid would earn Anne a place in Henry’s favour for quite some time. “Commander, are you sure this is wise?” a Rashadi officer named Nicholas asked. “Attacking in broad daylight seems strange…”

Turning on the officer, Anne snarled, “These humans are stupid and weak. We can defeat them, no matter the time.”

Nicholas bowed his head. “Of course Commander. I meant no disrespect.” Anne didn’t respond, too preoccupied with her own thoughts. Here, she would succeed where Jane had failed. When push came to shove, Anne was the superior soldier in every way. Obviously, her judgement wasn’t impaired by her losses, and she’d nearly eviscerated the soldier who’d even dared say that to her. Glancing around at the forces she’d chosen to take with her, Anne smiled. Taking this “Iron Clan” would be child’s play.

Catalina didn’t remember falling asleep. She barely remembered the fire slowly dying out and Jane curling up in her lap, face still tear-stained, and quietly falling asleep. She vaguely recalled carrying the tired woman back to their tent and setting her somewhere more comfortable to rest. She certainly didn’t remember the circumstances that led her to wake up in the middle of the night with Jane’s face nuzzled up against her neck, curling into her, while Lina held her tightly. Catalina began to pull away, then found she didn’t quite have the heart to do so. Instead, she just let Jane sleep, studying Jane’s face as she did so. Without the constant stress that traveling through the wilds tended to induce, Jane looked almost peaceful. Gently, Lina brushed a few loose strands of hair out of Jane’s face, chuckling quietly as Jane leaned into the touch. Lina ran her thumb across a scar near Jane’s mouth, vowing to ask the story behind it when they had time someday.

Everything felt so peaceful, almost domestic, so of course it couldn’t last forever. As Catalina began to pull herself completely out of bed and back to her own cot, she heard a quiet whimper. Concerned, she turned back and saw Jane curled in on herself, face once again creased in an almost unreadable emotion. But Lina could make out the driving factor behind Jane’s soft cries. Fear. Carefully, she moved Jane’s head back into her lap and began stroking her hair. Jane murmured something Lina could barely make out.

“Beloved, beloved don’t, beloved please I’ve done nothing wrong, please-” Jane thrashed and Lina had to adjust her hold on the smaller woman so she didn’t roll out of the cot. Before Lina could do anything, Jane shot up, clawing at her shoulders, orange eyes wide with panic. Catalina could see her pupils were dilated from their usual slits into huge round circles, almost like a cat’s pupils when it was panicking. She clawed at the tank top she was wearing as if it was on fire. “Off, please I want it off.”

“Jane are you-”

“OFF.” The desperate cry sounded as if Jane was trying to bark out an order, but Catalina could hear Jane’s voice crack at the end of it.

“Off it comes.” She soothed as she gently stripped Jane’s tank top off of her shivering body. Jane slumped forward, pitching her weight onto Lina and not speaking a word. Lina brought her hand back up to Jane’s head and continued stroking her hair. “Nightmare?” she whispered. Jane didn’t answer, but instead buried her face into Catalina’s collar bone, silently giving Lina her response. “What happened?”

Jane shrugged apathetically. “Don’ really wanna talk about it.”

Nodding, Catalina instead turned her attention to the scars across Jane’s shoulder blades. Cautiously, she ran her fingertips over the rough tissue. Jane shuddered, but didn’t jerk away. Lina pulled back and Jane whined softly, she adjusted herself so she had a full view of Jane’s back and began to more closely inspect the marred skin. “Where did this come from?”

Jane didn’t look up, a curtain of blonde hair hiding her face from Catalina. “Be- Henry thought I needed a more physical reminder not to fail him next time. I guess snapping off my horn wasn’t enough for him. It’s never enough for him.” she laughed ruefully, the last part of her confession whispered rather than spoken.

Catalina did her best not to tense, or jerk away, treating Jane like a frightened animal she could scare with just a breath too loud. “He did this to you on purpose?” she asked in a hushed tone. Realistically Lina probably should have at least realized the scars were purposeful, considering they were literal words carved into Jane’s skin.

Lina could practically hear Jane thinking as she seemed to decide on what was best to say. At long last, Jane turned her face slightly towards her and admitted, “Yes, it was on purpose, but it's not his fault he had to do it. Its mi-”

Reaching forward, Catalina wrapped her arms around Jane and pulled her backwards into a hug. Jane squeaked softly, but melted into the touch. “It is not your fault.” Lina whispered with conviction into Jane’s hair. “It's not your fault and it never will be. He’s a bad man who decided to hurt you because he wanted power and control and he was willing to do anything to get it.”

For the first time since she and Jane had been travelling together, Jane didn’t try and defend her husband. Instead simply asking, “If he’s a bad person, and I loved him, what does that make me?”

“It makes you someone who’s done a lot they aren’t proud of because you were stuck in a bad situation. It doesn’t make you bad. A bad person wouldn’t spend time worrying if they were bad or not.” Catalina continued holding Jane and stroking her hair. 

Slowly, Lina released Jane from her arms, pushing her slightly forward to get a better look at the scarring. "Don't." Jane murmured. Immediately Catalina paused, fingertips barely ghosting above the skin. "Its- its not pretty, it's not nice, it's not...not good."

Instead of replying, Lina leaned forward and pressed a kiss right between her shoulder blades, right on top of the scars. Jane shivered, but didnt pull away. "I think you're beautiful. Your scars are a part of you, and you are perfect. Jane Seymour, whether you believe me or not, you are good." 

Jane flushed in surprise, then turned around and asked teasingly, "You think I'm beautiful?"

For a moment, Catalina choked, then decided Jane didn't need to deal with her getting all flustered. "Yes. I do."

The statement seemed to surprise Jane, as if she'd been expecting Lina to just be joking. "I- oh." She blushed an even deeper gold, then whispered, "I think you're beautiful too."

Trying to hide her own flustered feelings, Lina simply smiled and said "That's very kind of you."Jane smiled softly, then yawned, arching her back like a cat. "Tired?" Catalina chuckled.

Jane pouted slightly. "Only a little."

Catalina moved out of Jane's way so she could lay back down. "Here, I'll get out of your way." 

She was about to go back to her side of the tent, when she felt a tug on her arm. Turning back, she saw Jane had a hold on her wrist and was holding her back. "Can you stay?"

Catalina smiled. "Of course." She settled back onto the cot beside Jane. Jane slowly curled into her and rested her head on Lina's chest. Catalina was about to fall asleep when she felt something swish beneath the blanket. Realizing that it was Jane's tail, she didn't say anything about it, until it wrapped around her calf.

Looking down at Jane in surprise, she laughed softly when Jane grumbled, "...I forgot you don't have a tail." Lina just pulled Jane a little closer and let herself drift off to sleep. 

Almost subconsciously, Catalina mumbled "Love you." Into Jane's hair just as her older sister used to do.

Jane snuggled deeper into Lina's arms and murmured back just as sleepily, "Love you too."

The next morning Catalina decided that she wouldn’t mind waking up with Jane every day if Jane was going to look this damn cute. Jane was resting her head on Lina’s collarbone and was drooling slightly as well as making the quietest snoring sound. Lazily, one of her ears twitched and Jane snuffled before settling back into sleep. Briefly, Catalina contemplated dropping a quick kiss onto Jane’s forehead, but hesitated. Seriously, what was she thinking. Jane was married, from what Lina could tell probably not happily married, but she already had someone. Plus, Catalina had sworn to herself that she’d try and shake this silly crush, after all Jane wasn’t going to stay.

She stretched, still mindful of Jane, trying not to wake her up. Last night's events played back through her mind and Lina turned pink remembering just what she'd said while falling asleep. She groaned and pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes, letting herself flop backwards onto the pillow. Nice going Catalina, get rid of this crush by confessing it, obviously a brilliant plan. She gnawed at her lower lip, praying to whatever deities were out there that Jane wouldn't remember the events of last night the previous evening. 

Leaning back against the pillows, Lina hummed under her breath. She and Jane would have to leave today if they wanted to get to the Ast Ria tower anytime soon. At first wasting time had seemed in her favour, but with Joan’s news about the turmoil the colonies were in, Catalina really had to get back and look out for her own. Plus she had to go make sure the girl she’d taken in was still doing okay. Running her fingers through Jane’s golden locks, she pondered Jane’s story she’d told at the bonfire. Lina just couldn’t understand why Jane would stay with Henry. From what Jane had told her, she was completely aware Henry was manipulating her, then again it had to be hard to get away from an abusive relationship when your husband was quite literally the ruler of a galaxy spanning empire. 

Jane sneezed quietly, the bridge of her nose scrunching up as she did, and Catalina laughed softly. Jane blinked awake, and huffed as she saw Lina laughing at her. “What?” she demanded.

Catalina wiped a non-existent tear from her cheek and chuckled, “You’re just so cute, you sneeze like a kitten.”

Flushing, Jane stammered out a few protests before grumbling and giving up. “Well, I‘m not cute, I’m a conqueror of worlds, not a kitten.”

“Yes and you’re a very fearsome conqueror of worlds, but you sneeze like a kitten and it's adorable.” Lina booped Jane’s nose and Jane snorted.

Weakly, Jane batted at Lina’s hand. “I’m not adorable or cute, you’re crazy.” she complained. Sitting up and propping herself up against Lina, Jane asked, “So are we gonna leave today?”

Catalina blinked at the surprisingly sad tone in Jane’s voice. “Do- do you not wanna go?”

“No! No I do wanna go, it’s just…” Jane paused, before continuing, “It’s just been nice not running for our lives from things that wanna kill us 24/7.”

Tapping her lips with a slender finger, Catalina proposed, “Why don’t we stay for a little longer and head out in the afternoon?”

Jane rolled over and nestled her head in the pillow. Muffled slightly by the cloth, she said, “That sounds good.”

Catalina pushed gently at Jane’s shoulder. “Cmon sleepy head, we gotta get up, we’re burning daylight.” she got up and stretched, before looking around for her clothes.

Groaning dramatically, Jane flopped over onto her back. “How are you so annoyingly awake?”

“Getting up early almost every day of your life does that to you.” Lina laughed. “Now get up before I drag you out of bed.” She yelped in indignation as Jane smacked her on the back of the thigh with her tail. “Hey!”

Jane rolled over and glared at her tiredly. “Don’t wanna get out of bed, it’s warm here and out there is cold.” Catalina grinned mischievously, and leaned down and reached over to Jane. “Hey wait what are you doing?” Catalina picked up Jane and began to walk towards the entrance of the tent. “LINA!”

“There’s a nice creek near here, we could always wake you up the hard way!” Catalina said cheerily.

Jane hissed, and struggled to try and get out of Lina’s grasp. “I swear to the gods if you drop me in a creek there won't be anywhere in the galaxy where you can hide from me so don’t you dare!”

With a huge mock sigh, Lina set Jane down, laughing as Jane punched her lightly in the arm. “Aww, okay I guess you don’t get an early morning bath then.” She laughed. 

Jane smacked Lina’s arm again, before walking back to the discarded pile of clothes at the foot of the cot. Picking her shirt up, she sniffed at it delicately, then reared back. “We really need new clothes that aren’t blood, grime, and sweat stained.”

Catalina shrugged. “Ehh, I think it’s fine. They aren’t that bad yet.”

Jane chucked the bundle of clothes at Lina’s face. “Obviously you humans must have a terrible sense of smell if you can’t tell these smell awful.”

“Hey, our sense of smell isn’t that bad it’s just not as strong as yours!” Lina retorted. She brought the bundle up to her face and sniffed, before dropping it to the ground. “Yea okay never mind you’re right this is a horrible smell.” She crossed to the tent flap and pushed it open, squinting into the still misty morning air. “I’m gonna go ahead and wash our stuff and then make some arrangements with Joan for when we leave.” Lina turned back towards Jane, tilting her head. “Maybe you could do some last minute exploring? That could be fun!”

Jane shrugged. “Sure, why not?” She replied. Jane made her way up next to Catalina, then bent down and picked the bomber jacket she’d been wearing up off the floor and shrugged it on. Carefully pushing past Lina, she stepped out into the still dewy morning. Walking out into the dusky air, she sighed and watched her breath turn to clouds in front of her face. Flicking an ear back towards the tent, she listened as Catalina walked out, presumably to that creek she was talking about. Jane sighed, running her hands through her hair. Lina smelled entirely of sadness and regret this morning and Jane couldn’t figure out why. She scoffed under her breath. Henry always hated it when she said she could sniff out emotions, calling it stupid and childish. And yet there was a distinct scent that both Lina and melancholy carried. Almost like the smell of the sky spilt with a rainy downpour, like the smell of a fresh peach as you sunk your teeth into the sweet juicy flesh and broke the taut skin, like fresh pine needles, trampled underfoot.

Feeling a shiver run down her back, Jane wondered just when she’d started noticing things like how Lina smelled. As she wandered into camp, Jane tried to remember what Henry was like. She could vaguely remember the smell of sweat and blood, mingling with angry disapproval as sharp as a promise blade. He had such angry eyes, filled with lightning and fire. Catalina’s eyes were filled with fire too, but it was a soft flame like a candle rather than the bonfire that threatened to consume her when she looked at Henry. Jane’s ears flattened as the sky opened and rain began to fall out of the sky. She squinted upwards, fascinated by the phenomenon. Rain did fall back on homeworld, but only for a week at a time and it was cause for huge celebrations out in the streets to thank the gods for their mercy and bounty. Here, as Jane glanced around the few people who were awake and starting on morning chores, rain seemed to be almost a minor annoyance or simple fact of life. Jane strolled through the camp, the pine needles springy under her feet. The intense smell of smoke mingling with the smell of life filled Jane’s mind and she allowed herself a small smile.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

Jane jumped slightly at the voice. Glancing around for the origin, she relaxed slightly when she saw it was just the silversmith Lina had introduced her to the first day. Maggie, Jane recalled. “P-pardon?”

Maggie smiled. “Yknow, penny for your thoughts? Whatcha thinking? You look awful pensive.” the silversmith had her hands clasped behind her back and was watching Jane expectantly.

Smirking slightly, Jane prodded, “Shouldn’t you be working right now?”

Waving off the question, Maggie said, “Nah, Joan let me come bother you for a bit. Figure you could use the company what with Catti running around like a madwoman.”

“Catti?” Jane questioned.

Maggie shrugged. “Catti. Catalina. It's a nickname.” She frowned. “Do they not have those where you come from?”

Shaking her head, Jane said, “No, no we do have nicknames.” She laughed as nostalgia crept over her. “Actually we used to call Anne “ottishi” when we were little.” At Maggie's questioning look, Jane explained “It means little lamb in Kulatani, yknow, our language on homeworld.”

Maggie nodded understandingly. “So how do you know english then?”

Jane shrugged. “It’s a common language around some other planets, Kulatani is just more widely spoken on Homeworld. Plus we call it something else, not english.” Maggie seemed satisfied with the answer and nodded.

After a few moments of an incredibly uncomfortable silence, Maggie asked, “So what exactly are you and Lina out here for?”

Jane glanced down at the ground, scuffing at the damp pine needles with her foot. “I lost a Lieutenant up north, killed by some humans.” Jane didn’t react to Maggie's awkward cough and instead continued, “I’m going to go retrieve the body and any tech she had on her at the time.”

“Why don’t you just send some grunt to do the job for you?” Maggie questioned.

Looking back up at Maggie, Jane explained, “My Lieutenant was someone very close to me. She is- was, my sister’s mate.”

Maggie pursed her lips. “Ah, I see.” The matter wasn’t discussed or pushed further which Jane appreciated.

Eventually Maggie strolled off, and Jane was once again alone. She wandered from smithy to smithy, peeking at workbenches and awkwardly waving hello to the few people who seemed to acknowledge her existence. After a while, she decided to make her way down to one of the more shallow levels of the mine. Jane was still rather uncomfortable underground, preferring the wide open skies to the dark tunnels, but she wanted to explore on her own for a bit.

As she ran her hands over the rough hewn stone walls, she heard footsteps behind her. Tensing, Jane slowly began to turn around, when a hand slammed a helmet down over her head. Jane hissed and the person in front of her laughed. As Jane lifted the helmet back out of her eyes, she looked up at the grinning face of Maria. “Cmon, that's just basic safety to have a helmet on in the mines.” Maria laughed. 

Jane grumbled, rolling her eyes. “I mean it didn’t help me out when the tunnel caved in yesterday.”

“Well it probably saved you from a caved in skull. Also from losing a second horn there.” Maria pointed out.

At the mention of a second broken horn, Jane physically flinched, ears pinning down against her head. “Ah, yea...lucky.”

Maria noticed the sudden drop in Jane’s mood and hurried to adjust her mistake. “Oh sorry, was that not something I should’ve said?”

Jane shrugged. “No, it’s just that, well y'know people on Homeworld kinda look down on people with broken horns.”

Sucking in a harsh breath through her teeth, Maria said, “That’s harsh.” pausing for a moment, Maria then asked, “Is there a reason behind it? Or is it more an aesthetic thing?”

“It’s just a strange concept on Homeworld to have someone who’s got a completely broken off horn. Beloved has some...strange ideas about worth.”

Maria frowned. “So it's a new thing?”

Sighing, Jane shook her head. “Henry turned a lot of the old rules to the extreme after his father died and called them his own. But no, broken horns have always been a damming mark among the Rashadi.”

Lacing her fingers behind her head, Maria whistled long and low. She walked forwards, deeper into the tunnels and Jane had to jog a bit to keep up. “I can’t say humans are any better, from what I’ve heard, pre-war humans were pretty unforgiving about differences. But we can’t afford to be like that anymore.” glancing back towards Jane, Maria pointed out, “Everyone deserves a chance to survive and live their life. They don’t necessarily have to constantly produce and contribute to earn a place among us.”

Jane mulled that over, chewing at her lower lip. Maria led her deeper into the tunnels, eventually lighting a small lantern to light their way. The tunnel sloped downwards, Jane started noticing small chips in the rock that seemed to almost shine. As Jane knelt to closer inspect one of the breaks in the rock, Maria called, “We’re here.” standing and turning to where Maria was, Jane’s jaw dropped. The walls were lined with crystals coloured a gorgeous dark purple. The lantern light flashed off the smooth facets, making the cave light up lavender. Carefully, Jane stepped into the cave and ran her fingers over the face of one of the crystals. Her claws slightly scored the gem but not enough to be entirely noticeable.

Turning back towards Maria who was now sitting cross-legged on the ground, she hesitantly asked, “Why did you bring me here?”

Maria sighed. “I know why you and your kind are here. I’ve spoken with some of the refugees you’ve left behind in your conquests. The Rashadi aren’t exactly painted favourably.” Staring Jane right in the eye, Maria said bitterly, “If you continue onwards, you’ll be destroying just another home to so many. I can’t let you do that.”

Jane’s blood ran cold. “So what, you brought me down here to kill me?” she snarled.

Blinking in surprise, Maria exclaimed, “What? No! No, nothing so drastic. I’m just trying to show you something.” Maria struggled to her feet, then walked over to a hollow in the rock. “You may be wondering why we haven’t dug out all this amethyst and used it for something. Well, some places are just best left alone.” Maria turned back towards Jane holding something in her hand. A small bundle of fur and fuzz uncurled itself, revealing a tiny woodrat. It blinked up at Jane with large black eyes. Jane blinked back at it. “Sure, we’d gain a new recourse, but we’d be driving out all the creatures that live here. Is it really worth it?”

Jane hesitated. “Well, shouldn’t your survival come first? Between your life and the life of an animal, wouldn’t you choose your own?”

“Of course I’d choose my own. I don’t have any illusions about that.” Maria sighed. “The point is that, we have enough, we don't need to make that choice at the moment. We don’t have to keep chasing what we don’t need. Iron Clan is pretty simple, in exchange for the firewood and medical supplies we get from Catalina’s colony, they get iron and oxen. There’s no point in taking all this crystal, in taking away this home, just for our own vanity.”

Opening her mouth to make some argument, Jane found that she had none. “But what if you need it in the future?” she tried.

Maria shrugged. “Then we take exactly as much as we need, not a shred more.” Jane couldn’t really think of any more flaw in the argument, and the message Maria was trying to send was coming across loud and clear.  _ We’re happy here, don’t fuck us over. _ Maria offered to take Jane back up to the surface and Jane happily agreed to it, she was beginning to get a bit claustrophobic underground.

As Maria headed off to go find Joan, she gave a last minute thrown over the shoulder set of instructions to go talk to one of the people at the smithies. An individual named Oxnard. Jane wasn’t exactly sure what she was supposed to talk about, but she supposed that it was probably better to try than be petulant and flat out refuse. Jane looked through the different areas of the clearing, taking her time, before she noticed someone who matched Maria’s description almost to the letter. They were tall, the top of their head almost brushing the roof of the smithy, and looked like they had an ox skull for a head. A blue denim jumpsuit with many obvious burns and tears in it was their one protection from the hot forge. Jane tried to ignore the low rumble of fear in her gut as the creature turned its head towards her, the hollow sockets of the ox skull fixing her with an eerie stare. “Ah, hello?” Jane tried not to let her voice tremble.

The creature lifted one hand and reached it forwards to Jane's face. Jane refused to flinch as the creature’s fingers brushed across her cheek. They drew back and instead of speaking, signed a simple phrase.  _ “Hello bright eyes.”  _ Jane sighed internally. Bright eyes was a sort of nickname for the Rashadi, springing from their bright orange eyes that almost glowed in the dark and were an easily identifiable trait of the Rashadi. Well it could be worse, they could’ve called her-  _ “So, what more could a parasite like you want from me?”  _ Oxnard signed. Jane physically sighed this time. And there it was. Parasite was another, harsher, insult towards the Rashadi.

“I don’t know, Maria told me to come talk to you for some reason. I’m not quite sure either.” Jane shrugged and sat down on a bench that was mostly clear of tools.

_ “Don’t sit there knife-ear, you’ll disturb my things.”  _ Oxnard signed, before crossing their arms over their chest and glowering at her. 

Jane stood, tail lashing behind her. “You’re rather free with your insults, aren’t you?”

Shrugging, Oxnard merely replied,  _ “I think I deserve to be a little insulting, what with how your people treated mine. I don’t think a little name calling is comparable to murder.”  _ Jane didn’t reply to that, ears drooping slightly. That was...fair. Oxnard snorted at her lack of a reply, and turned back to their work, both hammer and sparks flying. A long silence stretched between them, interrupted only by the hiss of a piece of metal being quenched in oil, or the ring of a hammer against steel.

Finally, Oxnard turned back to Jane and signed,  _ “Why are you here?” _

Slightly startled by the question, Jane stammered slightly. “I- uh well Maria told me to come talk to you I guess.”

Shaking their head, Oxnard clarified,  _ “No, why are you here? On Earth? No one wants you here.”  _ Walking to the entrance of the smithy, Oxnard gestured to all the people busy with their own work, interspersed rarely by a few aliens.  _ “We came to Earth because the Rashadi didn’t care about it. And now you’re here, the last safe place we had to run.”  _ Jane didn’t have an answer. Instead she just stared at Oxnard, eyes wide.  _ “Just what I thought.”  _ Oxnard snorted.  _ “You won’t even say anything against yourself because of your damned pride.”  _ Silence stretched between them, and Jane didn’t say anything for a long while.

Dropping her gaze to her lap, Jane finally muttered, “For what it's worth, I’m sorry.” Oxnard blinked at her in shock. Jane took their silence as a sign to continue on and said, “Maybe I wasn’t the one to hurt you, and yeah, a lot of the exterminations took place before I was even born, but we forced you out of your home and that wasn’t right. I’m sorry.”

Oxnard didn’t reply for a while, and for a moment, Jane wondered if she’d fucked everything up, when Oxnard simply signed,  _ “Never thought I’d see the day when a knife-ear swallowed their pride. Interesting.” _

Jane chuckled ruefully. “Well, it does feel a little strange apologizing to someone you considered vermin, but-”

Oxnard cut her off abruptly.  _ “And just like that, you ruined it.” _

Eyes widening, Jane tried to rectify her mistake. “No, I- I’m sorry I didn’t mean it like that I was just...I was trying to say…” Oxnard turned their back to Jane, a clear indicator they were done with this conversation. “Oh dammit.” Jane whispered under her breath. She carefully walked out of the smithy, ruffling her hair. She made up her mind to try and find Lina again, she could use a break. As she left, Jane didn’t catch Oxnard watching her leave, then pull out a small cuff made of gold, with a false horn made of what seemed to be ice attached to it. They turned it over in a large palm, and watched Jane disappear into the crowd. They’d be watching her. She’d surprised them with the apology, and then almost promptly ruined it, but it was a start. Oxnard had never heard of a Rashadi apologizing before. Interesting. 

Lina bit her lower lip as she drew the bowstring back to her cheek. She let her thumb brush against her skin, a habit she’d picked up, and one she knew she ought not to rely on. Narrowing her eyes, she took aim at the fish that was lazily making its way up the river. Something fresh to eat wouldn’t begrudge her at all. The fish swam to a small alcove and Catalina grinned. She exhaled, then loosed the arrow. The arrow found its target easily and the small bloom of blood made Catalina smile with pride. The smallest rustle in the undergrowth made her smile drop and her entire body tense, all thoughts of dinner gone. Peering into the dense undergrowth, Lina tried to make out any recognizable shape, when Jane suddenly pushed out of the trees. Visibly relaxing, Catalina lowered the unnotched bow. “Hey Jane, find anything interesting?” Jane shrugged, and sat down on the grass, twisting the blades in her fingers. Lina sighed and sat down next to her. ‘Did something happen?”

Jane exhaled heavily and shook her head. “No, nothing happened. Just...thinking.” 

“Thinking about what?” Catalina gently pressed.

Shrugging again, Jane murmured, “Things I guess. I’m wondering if I’m doing the right thing by being here.”

Catalina blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I talked with one of the aliens who was living here, and they pointed out that Earth is one of the last safe places for intergalactic refugees. If I succeed, I destroy one of the few safe hiding places. If I fail…” Jane trailed off and Catalina could fill in the blanks. If Jane failed, Henry wasn’t exactly going to be merciful to her. 

Searching Jane’s face, Lina asked, “Do you know what you’re going to do?”

Jane huffed and leaned into Lina’s shoulder, nuzzling her face into the side of Lina’s neck. “I could try and tell him Earth has no resources that would improve Rashadi lifestyle, but he’s greedy. He’d tell me to take Earth for the glory of the empire anyway. I don’t know what to do anymore.”

Catalina wasn’t sure either. On the one hand, she rather enjoyed living on a planet that wasn’t conquered by outside alien forces. On the other, she could see just how much Jane’s life in the military on homeworld meant to her, how much she’d sacrificed to get where she was now. It didn’t mean Lina thought it was right, but she could see why Jane was so hesitant. “Hey,” she murmured, “We haven’t gotten to that bridge yet, no point in worrying about it right now. Why don’t I teach you more about Earth things?”

Jane smiled. “That sounds nice.” She laughed softly.

Standing up, Lina offered a hand to Jane, who gratefully accepted it and pulled herself up. “Cmon, there should still be some late fish in the rivers. I can teach you to catch them.” she walked over to the fish she’d already caught, lifting it out of the water.

Blinking wide eyed, Jane asked, “What’s that? You eat that?”

Catalina laughed. “Yea, and it tastes pretty good too. Here, lemme show you how to get one.” she gave Jane the bow, and Jane held it awkwardly in one hand. Lina showed her how to hold it and guided Jane in how to nock an arrow and aim it towards one of the fish lazily trailing through the water. Giving up on trying to take a hands-off approach, Catalina walked forwards and gently guided Jane’s hips and back into a better position. “Pull back your arm a little further back, there like that.” Lina breathed. She could feel Jane’s muscles flexing and pulling taught under her palms, and she tried not to blush too red. “And….release.” Jane exhaled, then loosed the arrow, which plunged into the water. 

Jane immediately dropped the bow, which Lina thankfully caught, and raced to the river’s edge, peering into the water. “I did it!” Jane shouted happily. Catalina smiled at Jane’s almost childlike delight, and walked over to pull the fish out of the water. She laid it with the one she’d caught, then turned back to Jane, who was kneeling at the river bank, tail lashing back and forth.

Curious, Catalina walked over. “Did you find something interesting?” 

Jane didn’t reply for a moment, and Lina frowned, slightly concerned, when, “GOTCHA!” Jane spun and splashed Lina with the cool water, drenching her torso. 

Catalina blinked in surprise, then grinned evilly. “Oh I’m gonna get you for that.” She lunged forwards, but Jane was faster and danced easily out of the way. Catalina raced after Jane, feet easily tracking through the thick greenery. The crisp autumn air burned at Lina’s lungs as she glanced up into the treetops, seeing Jane leaping swiftly from branch to branch above her. The sharp crack of a branch made her look up, and then choke back a yell as Jane misjudged a jump and tumbled out of a pine tree. Jane landed right on top of Lina, and tumbled over, accidentally dragging Lina with her. When they rolled to a stop, back beside the river, Catalina was pinning Jane to the pine needle coated floor. “Fancy seeing you here.” Lina deadpanned. 

Jane snorted and batted at Lina’s arm (and was that just Lina’s wishful thinking or was Jane blushing?) “Get off you big dummy.” She giggled.

Pretending to mull it over for a moment, Lina instead dropped down onto Jane’s stomach and gently rested her chin on Jane’s chest. “Mmmmm, nah.”

Smacking her gently on the side of the head, Jane laughed, “You’re annoying, you know that?”

“Oh I know.” Catalina laughed. The comfortable silence stretched on, then almost all at once, both Jane and Lina realized that the position they were in was in no way at all platonic looking. Jane let out a choking cough, and Catalina scrambled up. “We should, uh, get this fish back to Iron Clan, and I’ll get some supplies from Bessie before we head out.”

Heat burning at Jane’s cheeks, she nodded wordlessly, scared she might say something stupid if she opened her mouth. Lina once again helped Jane up, then coughed awkwardly and headed back towards the direction of Iron Clan. as Lina walked away, she covered her mouth with the back of her hand. Stupid. There was no way in hell Jane would ever feel the same way she did, so why break her own heart? Lina had already promised herself that she’d get over this stupid crush, so why was she so bad at keeping her own promise? Then again, as Catalina slowed down to walk in step with Jane, and smiling as Jane bumped her shoulder, maybe it wouldn’t be so terrible just to enjoy the little time they had left...and to just pretend it was all gonna be alright. She leaned down and pressed a light kiss to Jane’s temple. Jane looked up, a small look of confusion crossing her features that was quickly replaced by a soft smile. Catalina smiled back, then readjusted the string of fish slung over her shoulder along with her bow and kept walking.

Jane and Lina parted ways when they got to the main building. Lina strided off to find Maggie and Bessie, while Jane just waffled about for a little bit, unsure of what to do. Finally she decided to take a walk over to the cliff that overlooked the ocean that Catalina had shown her before. It looked quiet and peaceful there, and Jane could use some peace. The walk was an easy one, and soon Jane found herself looking over the vast expanse of water. The bright sunlight scattered across the water, dying the landscape beautiful shades of gold, white, and soft yellow. She let go of a breath she didn’t even know she was holding, and let her eyes flutter shut. “Lovely view, isn’t it?” Jane startled, eyes flying back open. “Relax, it's just me.” Joan sat down heavily next to Jane, kicking her legs over the edge. 

Jane peered at Joan curiously. “Did you want to tell me something?”

Joan laughed, throwing her head back. “What makes you say that?”

Jane shrugged, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her chin on her folded arms. “I don’t know, everyone else I’ve talked to today has given me some grand soul searching speech about how I should just leave Earth alone. And what’s worse is that I know they’re right. I should stop this tearing apart of worlds and homes. It's wrong. And yet…” Jane trailed off, and glanced over at Joan, who was watching her impassively, “I’m selfish. I want to ignore what I’ve learned and just take the honour and glory that will come with this final mission and run with it. I can’t turn my back on my home.”

Joan snorted derisively. “If one of your only reasons to go through with this invasion is honour and glory, then it’s pointless.”

Staring at her in shock, Jane stammered, “I- I’m sorry, what?”

Huffing out a breath, Joan simply responded, “Not wanting to abandon your home, I get. Though sometimes it’s better to cut ties and start fresh no matter how much it hurts. But honour? Glory? Those are just made up concepts created by leaders to get others to fight in their wars. They aren’t real.” Joan picked up a rock sitting next to her and hurled it into the water. It took about a second for it to splash into the deep water.

“It is real, glory and honour are hard won and hard fought for!” Jane protested. “Plus, you’re the leader of Iron Clan, wouldn’t you try to promote honour and glory?”

Joan snorted. “I’m not a leader, I’m no better than anybody else here. I’m just a girl who’s good with machines and lost her leg in an accident. I’m no leader. We all make the decisions, that way everyone gets a voice. And I’m not about to promote honour and glory, I’d sooner take off my other leg.”

Pausing, Jane asked, “Why are you so against the ideals of fighting? I’m just curious, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

“The colonies weren’t always this peaceful.” Joan sighed. “When I was little, they were just a mess. People were still clinging to the way the old times worked. One person taking all the power for themselves. Back then, it was just me, and my brother John against the world. We didn’t join any colonies, preferring to strike out on our own. But John decided that wasn’t enough. When we got older, I made friends with some other people, kids really, and we decided to do our own thing. John though was desperate for something more. He left to join a colony who called themselves the Immortals. We had an argument about it, and he left without me. Their leader promised John everything. Power, glory, stability, everything we never had.

“What’s worse is that John looked genuinely happy there. I couldn’t understand it, but I was going to respect his decision. Until the leader of the Immortals declared a raid on a neighboring colony. John was a soldier in that pointless fight, he told me he was going to be a hero. That never happened. John didn’t die in a blaze of glory, he didn’t die with honour defending anything. He died alone, just another face in the front lines. Glory doesn’t exist, and even if it does, you won’t find it on the battlefield.” Joan’s eyes were distant, fixed on some unknown point on the horizon.

Jane wasn’t quite sure what to say. She wasn’t quite sure what was worse, the fact that when she was younger, she’d bought right into those self same lies, or as queen she’d spread the exact ideals. “I’m sorry for your loss.” She finally spoke.

Joan glanced over at Jane. “Hmm? Oh, it’s alright. It was a long time ago anyways. Though I suppose the hurt never really goes away huh?”

Jane shook her head. “No, it doesn’t go away.”

As the sun began to edge towards the horizon, Joan asked, “So, have you decided what you’re going to do about Earth?” she asked it nonchalantly, like she was asking Jane what her favorite food was, rather than about the fate of an entire planet.

Jane considered it for a moment, then said, “Yeah. Homeworld needs a lot of reformation. And I’ve learned a lot. When I get back, I’m going to return to Homeworld and demand Henry rework his policies and start fixing the problems we have.”

Joan eyed Jane curiously. “You don’t sound too excited about returning home.”

Surprisingly, Jane felt almost hollow at the thought of leaving Earth. “I- I’d rather stay here. It’s been so wonderful, and nothing like home, but I have a responsibility to my people. It’s what should be done.”

“What about you Jane? What do you want?” Joan asked, pressing at the train of conversation.

Jane hesitated. What did she want? An image of Catalina’s laughing face appeared in her mind, and she immediately waved it away. “I don’t know, I’m a queen, I don’t get to want for myself.”

Exhaling heavily, Joan grumbled, “You don’t seem cut out for this queen stuff. Maybe it’s time for you to step back and think about yourself for once. And also to get your head out of your ass and admit you like Catti.”

Jane proceeded to, in order; splutter indignantly, choke on air, make multiple high pitched disbelieving noises, then say, “I don’t like her! Well I like her, she’s my friend, but I don’t  _ like  _ like her, I just like her! Wait-” 

Joan laughed again, “Cmon, anyone with eyes can see it, you have a puppy love crush!” she cackled at the sight of Jane’s flushed face.

“Joan I am MARRIED I can’t have a crush!” Jane protested.

Stifling back laughter, Joan said, “well, be that as it may, you’ve still got a big crush on Catalina.”

Jane huffed and leaned back. “Well, even if I do, I’m not gonna act on it, Lina wouldn’t like me back anyway. Not after all I’ve done.”

Joan shrugged. “Well you’ll never know she doesn’t like you unless you ask her, dumbass. What’s the worst thing that could happen, other than her saying no?”

Leaning over, Jane shoved Joan, who laughed and pushed her back. “You’re the worst.” she grumbled. 

Smiling, Joan retorted, “Maybe, but I give good advice.” Jane couldn’t really disagree. “C’mon, let's get back to the clearing. I’m sure by this time they’ve got food on the table and I’m starving.” Jane nodded, and walked alongside Joan back to camp.

As work paused for a lunch break, Catalina was glad to see Jane join them for one last meal before they headed out. Some people simply grabbed their food and left, some stuck around at the hewn oak tables and benches to chat with friends before returning to work. Lina showed Jane now to tear apart the flaky fish and pick out the thin white bones. Apparently, fish was a hit or miss thing for Jane, who rather enjoyed the taste, but looked aghast at the fact there was so much work involved in picking out all the tiny bones. Catalina blinked in surprise, but then laughed as Jane grumbled it was all too much effort and just bit into the fish, not bothering to debone it, then mumbling “Crunchy.” under her breath.

After they were both done eating, Jane and Line did some last minute checks for anything they needed, dashing inside to their tent as a heavy rain began to pour around them. “I’ve got everything, you ready to head out?” Catalina said, rifling through her backpack and glancing at Jane.

Jane, who was now wearing a waterproof coat after complaining about the stupid amount of rain, nodded. “Yep, I’ve got water, food, a few other supplies, what about you?”

Snapping shut her backpack, Lina smiled. “All packed. Let's head out.” Jane nodded, and pushed open the flap of the tent, walking out into the rain. A thick mist had settled around them, and the smell of damp pine needles were everywhere. As they neared the edge of the woods, a loud bell suddenly started ringing. Catalina’s face paled. The alarm bell, only to be rung in times of extreme duress, but mostly when they were under attack. Jane looked up sharply. “What’s happening?” She barked over the loud tolling of the bell.

Catalina started running, dragging Jane with her. “Iron Clan is under attack, we gotta get out of here.” 

Pulling back on Lina’s hand, Jane snarled, “Then why don’t we help them? We can try and save some people!”

Growling in frustration, Lina shouted, “If either of us gets injured, it delays us just that much more, and we can’t afford that anymore.” Jane looked conflicted, but didn’t protest anymore, instead running alongside Catalina.

Something in the brush to their right rustled, then burst out, and Bessie along with Oxnard appeared beside them. The four figures stared at each other for a moment, then Bessie nodded. “I’ll try and cover you from whatever’s coming. Go.” Catalina nodded her thanks, then ran, Jane pausing for just a moment.

Oxnard caught Jane’s wrist.  _ “Bright eyes, wait.” _ They pulled Jane’s horn cuff out of their pocket and held it out to Jane.  _ “I got it back from the tunnels. I still don’t like you, but this seemed important to you.”  _

Jane hesitated, then shook her head. “No, Anne’s right. I have to let go of the past and move on.” She smiled up at the hulking blue figure. “Thank you though, the gesture is much appreciated.” Oxnard nodded, then turned to go assist Bessie, while Jane sprinted off to catch up to Catalina.

Jane wasn’t sure how long they’d have to keep running for, when her ears flicked backwards. “Lina! There’s someone chasing us!”

Catalina cursed under her breath. “Follow me!” She shouted, veering left.

Jane blinked. “This is towards the cliff!” 

“I know, trust me!” Catalina replied.

Lungs burning, Jane was grateful when they finally reached the cliff’s edge, but she still felt confused. “What are we doing here?” 

But Catalina didn’t seem to hear her, instead she was fixed on the brush in front of them. “There’s too many of them.” Jane heard her mutter. Lina reached out, and grabbed Jane’s hand. “I’m going to do something stupid, but it’s gonna save our lives. Do you trust me?”

Jane hesitated, then replied. “I do.” Catalina, still holding Jane’s hand, ran over to the edge of the cliff, peering over. “Lina wait! I can’t swim!”

Catalina squeezed her hand. “That’s okay, I’ve got you.” Lina glanced over her shoulder, and just as the mysterious attackers burst from the undergrowth, she pushed off of the cliff’s edge and jumped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well dang don't you just love a cliffhanger? :D  
> ahahahaha I think I'm funny
> 
> anyways  
> Hope yall enjoyed! Drop a kudos or leave a comment below, I love hearing from yall!


	18. Icarus's Folly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catalina and Jane don't quite see eye to eye. Anne believes she has the world in her grasp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS ITS DONE  
> took 5 weeks but yea!!  
> anyway this chapter was pretty fun to write haha, not sure if it's too short or not, but I suppose you'll tell me what you think I hope!  
> Again credit to @spooner7308 for their help with this chapter!  
> Warning, this chapter deals with torture, suicidal ideation, and death. Proceed with caution and stay safe.  
> Hope you all like this!

Anne hummed under her breath, tail lashing back and forth, a habit she’d never quite managed to conquer. She put her hands in her pockets as the skiff she was riding on sailed easily through the trees. The rest of her soldiers behind her were following in perfect formation, but for a brief moment, Anne was alone. As her hands rested against her thigh, Anne felt her fingertips brush against a slim recorder. Drawing it out, she inspected it closely. Anne recognized the design from her childhood, one of the only presents her father had ever bought her. The thing really was just a simple voice recorder, and it wasn’t even the original one. Anne just kept getting new ones and using them out of sheer force of habit. Checking the contents, Anne was surprised to find it empty. Turning it over in her palm, Anne supposed indulging herself one more time couldn’t hurt.

“I don’t remember how I used to start these, and I don’t remember the last time I did this, but I suppose I’ll do this one last time.” Anne sighed, holding the recorder up to her face. “It’s been almost a week since Commander Seymour left, and only four days since I assumed command. In that time, I’ve done what it used to take Commander Seymour weeks to do. She went soft, but I don’t have that luxury anymore. I’ve done better than she ever could.” Pausing in her momentary tirade, Anne collected her thoughts, before laughing under her breath, “Honestly? Commander Seymour going missing in action is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. And if she really is dead? Well I’ve been fine without anyone before. I was wrong to think I needed anyone. I wonder what would’ve happened if I’d pushed Jane out of the way earlier and taken my rightful place sooner.” Chuckling, Anne finished, “We would’ve ruled the galaxy by now. Maybe it’s better for everyone if she stays dead.” She clicked the recorder off, and pocketed it, smiling. Maybe she should start up her audio diaries again, it really was rather satisfying.

As Catalina and Jane crashed into the water, the first thing Lina registered was the cold.  _ “Well duh dumbass, it’s freezing out, why would the water be any warmer?”  _ Once again Catalina thanked her lucky stars her older sister had forced her to learn to swim. At the thought of swimming, Catalina immediately remembered the fact that swimming was something Jane couldn’t particularly do. Frantically, she searched around in the salty water, finally feeling Jane’s arm and dragging her up to the surface. Jane gasped and coughed, expelling water from her lungs. Letting Jane wrap her arms around her shoulders, Lina swam for shore, casting a glance back up to the clifftop. Some skirmish of some type was happening up there, and Lina yelped in surprise as she heard a gunshot crack out. Immediately she started swimming a little faster, desperate to get out of there. Her shoulder wounds were getting better, and they were so damn close to their goal, Lina refused to slow them down any more.

A bullet snicked through the water and Catalina swore under her breath. That was all too close for her liking. She climbed up onto the shore, grabbed Jane’s hand, and began running. 

“Lina, wait I don’t think I can run!” Jane cried out, stumbling slightly.

Catalina disregarded her complaint, instead simply barking, “If we stop moving we’re going to freeze to death, now c’mon there should be an abandoned building around here somewhere. The woods used to be crawling with little cabins.” Jane continued whimpering, but Lina couldn’t spare much time for it. At this point in time, they just had to go. As Catalina pulled Jane through the dense trees, she heard the sharp retort of a gun being fired, then stumbled as something nicked her lower arm. It almost felt like a piece of gravel had hit her, and Catalina was about to pay it no mind, when Jane swore, and tugged Lina behind a tree. “They’re actually shooting at us? And with such primitive weapons too, honestly who even uses solid bullets anymore?” Jane hissed under her breath. Lina looked up to reply, when a loud crack sounded through the trees. Jane yelped and stumbled back. A 9mm bullet was embedded in her arm, golden amber blood trailing down her wrist. She covered the wound with a hand and swore. 

Immediately, Lina scrambled over to Jane’s side. “Where exactly did it hit you?” she asked frantically.

Jane pressed her lips together, and nodded, showing Lina the wound in her upper arm. “It’s not too bad thankfully. Should be easy to clean up.”

Lina frowned. “Still, this doesn’t look good, but another couple inches to the right and you’d have a bullet in your lung.” 

Jane flinched. “Should we take the bullet out?”

Shaking her head, Lina said, “No, We gotta keep pressure on this so you don’t lose any more blood than you have to. C’mon, let’s get to that safe house and then we can clean this up.” Hesitantly, Jane nodded, still visibly worried. The two walked deeper into the forest, Jane clutching her arm, and Lina gripping the handle of her axe like a life line, marching forwards in front of her. 

Jane clenched her hand over the bloody wound in her arm. Already, she could feel the flesh trying to knit back together, but the metal slug in her arm resisted the attempts. Hissing in pain, Jane inspected the wound closer, trying to figure out if she could extract the bullet. Catalina glanced backwards, hearing Jane’s quiet noises of pain, and then slammed to a halt, causing Jane to bump into her. “Jane I told you not to mess with it!” Catalina shouted, rounding on Jane.

Pinning her ears back, Jane snarled, “Well excuse me for trying to get a literal chunk of metal out of my arm before it heals around it.”

Opening her mouth for some retort, Catalina seemed to almost think better of it for a moment, before blurting out, “If you could just have some damn patience, we could do this in a better environment!”

“Oh I’m sorry for trying to make sure I don’t die, which is more than you’ve done, all you’ve done is lead us into danger!” A low blow and Jane knew it. So did Lina, and Jane watched, helpless as Lina’s golden eyes hardened back to how they had been back when they’d first met.

Turning back around and striding forwards, Lina spat, “Fine then. Bleed out for all I care.” a breath passed, then, “And for the record, I could’ve run off at any time, I just choose to stay for the sake of the girl you took hostage.”

Jane winced. She’d known their tempers were a bit short. Being cold, in pain, and tired tended to do that to people. She felt bad for saying what she did, but she was just as tired, just as hurt, just as freezing as Lina was, probably even more so. The apology that had been forming died in her throat and instead Jane just huffed out her displeasure, following Catalina at a safe distance. She didn’t make another attempt to dig out the bullet.

Catalina sighed, hiking her axe up a bit further on her shoulder. Maybe she’d been harsh, but then again so had Jane. How dare she insinuate Lina was leading them into danger. If she’d had half a mind to, Lina could’ve abandoned Jane to the mercy of the woods, but no, she was better than that for some reason. The silence of their walk was familiar, almost suffocatingly familiar. It reminded Catalina far too much of when they were first on this journey, and Jane was too proud to even try and make conversation. _Maybe it would’ve been better for everyone if Jane had never warmed up to me_. Lina thought, letting out an audible sigh. Jane seemed to take notice of the sound, considering it was the first to come out of Lina’s mouth in a while. “What?” She asked, voice suspicious. 

Catalina paused, then muttered, “Maybe we should never have become friends.”

“I- what?” Jane stammered, voice hitched in disbelief.

Refusing to turn and face Jane, Catalina let out a heavy breath. “We can’t do this anymore Jane. We can’t keep pretending like this. We’re on opposite sides of a literal war, we can’t be friends, can’t talk, can’t carry on like this.”

Jane sped up her pace. “Catalina, what do you mean?” she reached out a hand and placed it on Lina’s shoulder.

Lina tensed, then smacked Jane’s hand off of her shoulder. “Don’t touch me.” She snarled. 

Staring at her as if she’d grown a second head, Jane didn’t say anything for a while, then, “Fine.” The trek continued on in silence.

Anne smiled as the pine trees thinned slightly, indicating they were close. Nicholas, who had clambered up onto the skiff next to her, frowned. “Commander, our advance party hasn’t returned, isn’t there a possibility they’ve been discovered? And wouldn’t that lose us our element of surprise?”

Snarling, Anne turned on the unfortunate young officer. “So? Are you doubting our strength?” Anne pushed her face right up into Nicholas’s. “Be careful soldier, I don’t need you as much as you may think.” Nicholas backed down, ears pinned back and tail lashing in agitation. Anne scoffed, turning her attention back to the forest.

As they neared the edge of the clearing, Anne hopped off the skiff, then turned to her other officers. Quietly gesturing out her orders, Anne watched in satisfaction as the officers dashed off to carry out her commands. The rashadi she’d brought with her practically melted into the surrounding trees, and Anne found her own tree to perch in as she watched and waited. She was slightly concerned for the scouting team she’d sent out who had never returned, but Anne would just have to cut her losses.

As they waited, the only noise for the longest time being the quiet whipping of the wind through the branches, Anne imagined what she’d do when His Majesty elevated her to his right hand. She’d turned him down once before, years ago, since she knew how much the position had meant to Jane. Anne regretted that decision more than anything now, if only she’d taken this for herself sooner. A lone human wandered through the woods, searching for something. Anne blinked, realizing that the human was looking for something.  _ “Did they know we were coming?”  _ She wondered. Glancing over and locking eyes with Nicholas, Anne gave a quick short nod. Nicholas turned back to his team and gave a series of quick hand signals. With absolute silence, the small team of Rashadi slid through the branches, then dropped onto the human. 

There wasn’t even a moment to scream. The choked cough and splatter of blood across the leaves marking the end of a life was almost entirely silent. Anne dropped out of the tree next to the body, and the other Rashadi dropped down around her. Anne inspected the still body, nudging it with a foot, before looking up at Nicholas. “We have to assume that we’ve been compromised. We attack immediately”

Nicholas stared in disbelief, “Commander, are you sure-”

“YES DAMMIT!” Anne roared. Briefly sparing a moment to glare at Anne, Nicholas turned to the army behind them, and gave a few signals. Soon, Anne could hear the buzz of blasters humming to life, and the quiet  _ shink _ of claws being unsheathed. Anne turned back to the direction had come from, lifting a hand in front of her, she clenched her fist and laughed. “We’re gonna find whoever’s leading this bunch of humans, and blow their tongue out the back of their cranium.”

It was all going beautifully, and Anne couldn’t have been more pleased. Anne laughed as she watched from her perch high up on a tree as her army flooded into the camp. The scream and cried of the humans were music to her ears. She stood up on the branch she’d chosen as her look out point and ran a claw down the bark. Carefully, Anne leapt down through the branches and landed right in the heat of it all. A human holding a knife the length of her forearm startled and Anne just laughed as she slammed her claws into the back of the human’s head, cupping it and smashing its face into her knee which she pulled up to meet the human’s head. The resulting crunch made Anne think of one of the few snow melons she’d ever gotten the privilege to taste back on homeworld, when they could afford such a treat. “Aww,” Anne crooned, “you got blood all over my uniform, how rude of you.” Lifting the human up to her eye level, Anne ignored the stain of blood and viscera all over her dress pants in favor of inspecting the human. A decent sized hole was busted into the front of its skull and Anne smiled. Easily, Anne hefted the human up and threw the limp corpse at another human who squeaked and fell under the force of the body, collapsing to the ground as another Rashadi blew its head off with a blaster.

It was all so simple, too simple. As Anne maneuvered through the crowd, occasionally shifting out of the way to dodge a fight of two, she tuned out the screams and wails in favour of her own thoughts. The humans she’d encountered before would have never been this...complacent in their fighting. And considering these humans had forewarning, Anne thought they’d be at least a little more prepared. Oh well, all the easier for her to wipe out. As Anne walked, occasionally stopping to put down a few humans, she felt something cold press against the back of her head. A voice, dripping with anger, snarled out, “Disarm yourself. Now.” Anne tried to twist her head to see who was threatening her, but the twin gun barrels just pressed harder against her head. Slowly, Anne dropped her blaster from out of its holster and held up her hands. “Good, now turn around slowly.” Anne carefully turned around, staring directly into the harsh face of a human woman, fluffy brown hair tied back into a loose ponytail, and wearing a black vest smeared with dust and soot over a white button up. The woman reached down into the front pocket of her apron and pulled out a radio device of some kind. “Yea Bessie? I think I got her.”

A crackly voice over the radio spoke back. “Good job Maggie, now bring her to the main hall. We’ll meet you there.” 

Maggie, as the human was apparently called, grinned. “I guess capturing the Rashadi’s new leader was easier than we’d been led to believe.”

Anne, biding her time, watched as the barrel of the sawed off shotgun began to drift off center just a little. Immediately, she surged upwards, slapping aside Maggie's hand and shoving her to the ground, both of them grappling for the gun. “Maybe not so easy.” Anne grunted out. She wrapped a hand around the barrel of the gun, rearing back as Maggie shoved it towards her face and fired. Anne snarled as one of the pellets glanced off of her left horn, then lunged forwards again, canines bared and ready to sink into the human’s throat. Just as her sharp teeth grazed the jugular on the side of the human’s throat, Maggie spun the shotgun in her hand and slammed it into the side of Anne’s face. Anne reared back, the crack of the impact sending her reeling. Maggie immediately used the moment to scramble away from Anne and run towards a large building Anne could only assume was the main hall. Wiping amber-gold blood off of her face from where it was running down her chin, Anne winced slightly as she felt the bones in her jaw shift and slowly begin to knit back together. She watched Maggie disappear into the mass of fighting bodies, and growled. That human was going to die by her hand, she swore it to the gods.

Maggie burst through the doors, one hand pressed tightly against her neck. Joan looked up, concern flashing in her steely gray eyes. “Maggie? What happened?”

Stumbling slightly, Maggie swore, “That bitch, she fucking attacked me!” Immediately, Avi, an alien with pale almost white skin and much too blue eyes, crossed over to where Maggie was still storming across the floor. Raising a delicately tattooed hand up to Maggie’s neck, Maggie allowed Avi to inspect the flesh wound, then wrap a bandage around it. “Thanks Avi.” Avi’s top two eyes flicked up in acknowledgement, while the bottom two stayed fixed on their task. Maggie walked over to where Maria, Bessie, Joan and a few others stood. “Sorry I lost her.”

Joan patted Maggie's back. “Hey it's okay, we can get her back.”

Arching an eyebrow, Maggie looked towards the table that had been cleared out for maps and pencils and other assorted items. “So we’re actually going to do it? Joan, that's dangerous as hell, we really shouldn’t. We can take them out here, it can’t be that hard!”

Maria huffed in frustration, slamming her fist onto the table. “Look Maggie, no one wants to do it, having the mines out of commission will damage our entire livelihood, but we have to make sacrifices to keep ourselves alive!” 

Placing a hand on Maria’s arm as if to calm her down, Bessie added in, “We can always rebuild, we’ve rebuilt before.”

Avi laced her fingers together, resting her chin on the lattice her hands made. “Oxnard, Gary and I have the explosives in place, we just need your word.”

Glancing around the table for last minute acknowledgement, Joan nodded firmly. “Then it’s settled. Operation Fox Trap is a go.” 

Anne watched, lifting her head up from the freshly bloodied corpse she’d been holding, and flicked an ear as a loud alarm bell began to ring. The humans that were still clinging to their miserable lives started to turn and run, speeding towards the mineshafts in the ground. For one terrifying moment, Anne was thrown back, away from the present filled with greenery and drizzly air, and back into a world of snow and ice. Shaking her head to clear it of the fuzzy images, she grabbed the face of a human who’d strayed a little too close to her and crushed its skull in her grip. Throwing it aside, she watched Nicholas straggle up to her. “Ma’am, I suggest we regroup and attack later tonight when we have the advantage.”

“Officer, am I to understand you think we should...retreat?” Anne smiled at Nicholas, each word she spoke dripping with frost and malice. 

Immediately, Nicholas’s face turned pale and drawn. “No ma’am! Of course not! Just- don’t you think this could be a trap?”

Anne scoffed. “Of course it’s a trap, humans do have some scraps of intelligence, no matter how slim. But we have to keep pushing and take this colony for the glory of the empire.” Looming over Nicholas, Anne nonchalantly asked, “Or have you forgotten to whom your loyalty lies?”

Staring right back at Anne, Nicholas growled, “No Commander, I haven’t.”

Anne searched his face for a moment, before briskly turning around, “Ready the troops for a second attack, we go as soon as possible.” Anne waited for Nicholas to walk off. When he didn’t, Anne turned her head back ever so slightly, and hissed through clenched teeth, “That wasn’t a request Captain, unless this is your attempt at outright insubordination?” 

Gritting his teeth, Nicholas swept out of Anne’s sight. “No Commander, it’s not.”

Anne watched the mouth of the mines intently as the last straggling humans were easily picked off by Rashadi soldiers patrolling the open clearing. A few humans attempted to fight back, and Anne frowned with displeasure as a few Rashadi fell. Weak. They were weak. Anne watched as Nicholas rallied the troops, stirring them back into a frenzy. Nicholas roared something about death to all humans, and Anne chuckled. These soldiers really just ate up all the propaganda that was thrown at them, didn’t they?  _ But then again, are you really any better?  _ A voice in the back of her mind asked. Anne waved it away. She had more important things to consider.

As the Rashadi made their way into the mines, Anne followed up in the rear, surveying her troops. She had full confidence in what she was doing, disregarding the voice in the back of her head screaming that this was a bad idea. The mines were dark, and the distinct smell of carbide lamps singed Anne’s nose. The sound of water rushing beneath them was both terrifying and yet almost comforting to Anne. The rhythmic sound it made mixed with the terror of such a large body of water gave Anne a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. Under the distinct sound of the marching of her army, Anne could hear the quiet footsteps of the humans running through the tunnels like rats. Snorting, Anne mused to herself that hiding underground just made them all the more like rats than they already were. 

Anne had all but relaxed, when she realized something. At some point, the quiet tapping of the human’s footsteps had ceased. To borrow a human term, their canary had stopped singing. Immediately Anne opened her mouth to bark an order to get to safety, when the first bombs went off. 

It felt like being stabbed in the ears with ice picks, while simultaneously being put through the worst hangover of her life. Anne stumbled backwards, and through half-open eyes, she could see the screaming soldiers run for cover as more shrapnel began to rain down on them. Rocky shrapnel tore through the front lines, and those who were too close to the edge fell down into the harsh uncaring black river. Anne slammed her hands over her ears as the second bombs went off. Something flew past her and splattered against the rock. Turning her head, Anne suppressed a gag as she saw a footsoldier she knew painted across the stone. If they wanted to reclaim that body, they’d have to scrape it off with a chisel. Struggling to stand, Anne tried to shake the ringing in her ears. Then, “For Iron Clan!” Anne faintly heard someone yell, and then the tunnels became even more hellish as bullets hailed down on them. 

“Fall back!” Anne cried, and tried not to panic as a Rashadi who’d got too close to the front lines was immediately shot point blank in the chest, the impact blowing his lungs out of his uniform. Anne and the surviving members of her crew scrambled for cover, when Anne spotted a familiar figure picking their way across the rocks. The girl who’d tried to take her captive along with another girl who looked to only have one leg, both of whom for some reason carried a lot of weight here. Anne fixed her focus on them. If she could take out the head, the body would die. For a moment, she hesitated. Should she abandon the survivors? No, she rationalized, this was the optimal way to ensure maximum survival. It wasn’t about revenge, it was about survival. If the leader died, then the attack would stop. Anne leapt over the rocky outcrop she’d been hiding behind, and dashed towards her. The girl with the brown ponytail turned, seeing Anne, and for a moment, her eyes widened with abject fear.

She dashed away, pulling her friend with her, Anne easily keeping pace with the two of them. The labyrinth of tunnels stretching for what seemed like miles, the two humans she was chasing seeming to know every inch of them like the back of their hands. Anne swore as she realized that the humans were probably trying to lose her in the maze. As she wondered if she’d ever really catch up to the humans, she heard a quiet thump and a soft cry. Anne rounded the corner, and came across the girl, Maggie, on the ground, a hand pressed to her temple and blood trickled through her fingers. Anne laughed, “Well, what have we here?”

Anne sat back on her haunches in front of the human who glared at her. “So, it looks like your so-called friend abandoned you.”

Maggie snarled. “She didn’t abandon me, I fell and told her to run.”

Shrugging, Anne chuckled. “Still, it’s all the same.” Tilting her head slightly, Anne smiled, “Though I don’t see why you weren’t the one to leave her behind. Someone who can’t run on her own? Just dead weight.”

To Anne’s surprise, Maggie had an almost visceral reaction to what she said, surging up and grabbing Anne by the collar and pulling her face down to hers. “Don’t you dare call her dead weight. Joan is the most intelligent, capable, and amazing person I know. Don’t you dare discount her.” 

Rearing back, Anne grabbed Maggie’s shoulders and threw her into the wall of the tunnel. The tunnel was rather narrow so the impact wasn’t as harsh as Anne would’ve liked, but the sharp cry of pain that was ripped from Maggie was still incredibly satisfying. “Don’t you dare put your dirty paws on me human.” She growled. Maggie groaned and tried to pick herself up off the ground, but her arms collapsed under her. Anne walked over, and ground her boot heel into the small of Maggie’s back. Maggie wailed and tried to throw Anne off. “This is where you belong human,” Anne gloated, “Underfoot, screaming for mercy.”

Spitting a mouthful of blood out onto the rough hewn stone floor, Maggie snarled, “Oh really, I’m the disgutsing one?” Twisting and grabbing Anne’s ankle, she threw Anne off of her. Maggie struggled up and pushed Anne backwards. “You know, we had a Rashadi pass through here earlier. Started out with the same grandstanding you have. Same “Show no weakness” attitude.” Maggie scoffed. “But you? You claim to show no weakness and yet you never once stand up for yourself. Your wife died on the orders of your superiors and yet you still don’t do anything about it?”

Anne hissed and lunged at Maggie, pinning her to the wall. “Shut up, how dare you talk about my wife.” she bared her teeth right next to Maggie’s jugular, feeling her pulse pick up.

Maggie gulped, before whispering, “Then again, you’ve never really been very brave, have you… Ottishi?” Maggie smirked as Anne’s face became pale and drawn.

“How-” Anne’s voice caught, “How do you know-”

Maggie wormed her way out of Anne’s grasp backing up the tunnel. “That Rashadi who passed through? Well, all I’ll say is that Jane was incredibly helpful.” She smiled at Anne’s horrified look.

Stumbling slightly, Anne choked, “No, no, she’s alive?” Anne supposed she should feel ecstatic, and yet all she could feel was hollow. Jane had fraternized with the humans, revealing secrets and- Anne was struck with the realization that  _ Jane  _ was probably the reason they knew to be prepared for an attack.

Maggie laughed. “And while you’re having your little crisis there, I’ll leave you with one last thing. Maybe Joan didn’t leave to save her own skin. Maybe she was just getting back up.” Then she turned and sprinted away just as Anne looked up to see another human with coppery brown curly hair, pouring barrels of some kind of liquid into the tunnel. Maggie was whisked up into the upper tunnel by a fourth human, this one wearing a welding mask, and vanished up into the dark tunnels. Joan was standing at the exit of the tunnel, smiling demurely at Anne.

“So, you thought you could hurt my family and get away with it?” the woman laughed, and Anne felt her ears droop, “Think again. There’s quite a lot of methane gas in here, and what we just poured into here will definitely help the ignition along quite nicely”

Anne sniffed the darkish liquid that was covering her and the tunnel. “What is this?” she hissed. The smell of creosote, carbide, and kerosene was overwhelming. “Wait…” Anne’s eyes widened as she realized what was happening. “WAIT DON’T!”

Joan tilted her head to the side, like a curious puppy. “Yknow, even if Cathy does come back, do you really think she’d want you?” Anne backed towards the opposite end of the tunnel, eyes wide with fear. “Really, your wife dies and the first thing you do? You brown nose the people who let her die for a promotion! Is that how you honor her death?” Joan laughed disbelievingly, “You keep shouting show no weakness, but you? You have yet to show anything resembling strength. You let all these people die, and for what? Nothing.” 

Anne snarled as she continued backing away. “It does have a purpose! It’s for glory, for the empire, for honor!”

Joan reached into a pocket and pulled out a match. Anne choked and scrambled back. “You think honor matters to the dead? Why don’t you ask the ghosts, let the silence be your answer.” She struck the match, the thin flame flickering in the dark, and Anne suddenly became very aware of how covered in the kerosene mixture she was. “Goodbye Anne.”

The match dropped into the liquid, and Anne dashed for the mouth of the tunnel and flames roared to life around her, survival the only thing on her mind.

When Joan picked her way through the burnt out tunnel, she blinked as she saw Anne still struggling along the floor on her stomach, light burns spidered across her skin. She huffed in frustration. While she hadn’t been a hundred percent sure the plan would kill Anne, she’d still held a modicum of hope for that outcome. “Bessie? Can you give me a hand here?” 

Bessie dropped down from the upper tunnel next to Joan. “She’s still alive? Well, what’re we going to do with her now?”

Joan shrugged. “We could always give Lina a hand by keeping her hostage, though really it’s up to what the clan decides as a whole. Bessie nodded in affirmation, and picked up Anne’s limp body, tying her hands behind her back before hefting her over a shoulder. Anne struggled for just a moment, before resigning herself to the capture. Maria and Maggie joined them, Maria supporting Maggie, who was clutching her ribs and grimacing in pain. Joan hung back slightly to inspect Anne, who seemed to have entirely given up. She Rashadi had tear tracks cutting through the coal dust and soot coating her face and her once pristine uniform which was now torn to shreds. They passed through the main mines, when Anne seemed to recognize someone. Joan stopped, causing the others to also stop. An officer, who was being dragged away was trying desperately to bargain with his captors. “Please!” He shouted. “Please! Anything you want, I can give it to you! I’m Captain Nicholas Dimyeka, I carry great power in the military, I can give you anything, just let me go! Money? Do you want money? I can get you it, just let me go!”

Gary scoffed, dunking their hands into what looked like molten silver. “We don’t want your bloody money, parasite, we want you gone.” one of the humans holding down the officer wrenched open his jaws, and Gary poured the molten silver down his throat. “You wanted riches and glory? Here, all the riched you can hold.” The Rashadi officer screamed, and tapered off into a gargle as the molten silver poured into him. Joan watched as Anne stared at the scene, wide-eyed, then shut her eyes trying to block her ears from the screams.

Bessie sighed, and walked on. She glanced at Joan, and muttered, “I know we told them they can do what they want with the survivors, but this seems cruel.”

Joan let out a heavy breath, “Yeah, I’ll have to talk about this. We may be trying to protect ourselves, but we don’t have to torture them.”

Bessie nodded, then jostled Anne who whimpered. “So what’re we going to do with this one?”

Shrugging, Joan said, “Well, I know this goes against what I just said, but I think it would be a good idea to keep her subdued until the clan can decide what to do with her.” pushing open the doors to the main hall, the front of which was now pockmarked with blaster shots and burn marks, and heading into a small room. Avi was sitting in there, away from the fighting. She’d mentioned that she didn’t want to be in the thick of things, considering she wasn’t all that strong and would honestly be more of a dead weight in a combat situation.

She looked up, then inspected the Rashadi officer thrown over Bessie’s shoulder. “I assume you have need of me?” Avi asked in a light tone.

Joan sighed. “We need to keep her subdued until we can vote what to do with her. Can you…” Joan tapered off, not really wanting to say it aloud.

Nodding, Avi gestured at an open spot on the ground. Bessie set Anne down, then stepped back. Anne seemed to wake up, then thrashed in place. “Let me go this instant!”

Avi sighed. “No, I don’t think we will parasite. We have bigger plans for you.”

Anne blinked at them, then to the group's surprise, began to laugh. It began as a small chuckle, then evolved into a full blown laugh, then almost like a mad cackle. “Nothing you do to me matters! Go ahead, kill me!” she stared at Joan. “Do it coward, unless you prefer to barbeque your enemies from a distance and don’t have the guts to do it yourself.” Joan flinched backwards, and Anne rambled on. “Kill me, I’m a liability to you alive. Kill me. KILL ME!” Anne roared.

Avi sighed. “No, I don’t think we will. We have a better idea. She reached a hand towards Anne’s forehead, and Anne gasped as she realized just what Avi was going to do.

She wrenched away from Avi’s outstretched fingers. “No, nononono- NO!”

Avi kept advancing, pressing her fingertips to Anne’s forehead. “If you’re so resistant parasite, then I suppose you know what my kind can do.”

Trying to twist away, Anne keened, panic filling her voice and Maggie almost felt sorry for her. “So what’s going to happen to her?” Maria asked. Joan was hovering behind her, taking mental notes on all the happenings.

Tracing her fingers across Anne’s forehead, Avi muttered “Essentially, she’ll be forced to relive her memories in the form of nightmares. Specifically her worst ones.”

Maggie flinched and she heard Joan suck in a harsh breath. “That seems cruel.” Joan murmured.

Turning her pale blue eyes on the humans, Avi retorted, “Her kind tried to wipe out my people. I think I get to be a little cruel.” Neither human dissented.

Anne writhed under Avi’s touch, screaming and kicking and fighting, desperately trying to wrench her way out of the ropes they’d bound her with. Seconds dragged by like eternities, and for a brief hopeful moment, Anne thought maybe Avi’s powers had failed her, then Avi’s eyes glowed blue and Anne could feel a cold presence in her mind. “NO! STOP! I ORDER YOU TO CEASE!” Anne screamed, fighting against the chilling thing that was worming its way through her memories. The world, for a brief moment, went white, then she was standing in the sand. The heat of the grainy gold sandy radiated through her sandals. Anne squinted up at the horizon, the silhouettes of crumbling buildings catching her eye. She was...home? The familiar skyline was exactly that of her childhood hometown. As Anne pondered this, someone bumped against her hip. She turned to hiss as them for daring to touch a high ranking officer, when she came face to face with a young Jane.

“ Ottishi! Watch this!” The girl dashed forwards, weaving through the thin fruit trees. She jumped into a particularly sturdy one, and was climbing the branches, when Anne startled. She remembered this. Jane had fallen and broken her arm falling from this tree. Anne darted forward, just as the branch supporting Jane’s weight broke underneath her and she hurtled downwards. She stretched her arms out to catch her, but Jane seemed to fall right through them, hitting the ground with a harsh crunch. Jane screamed and Anne immediately bent down to help her, but everything seemed to change. Instead of the young girl Anne remembered in the memory, Jane was now an adult, wearing the fully decorated uniform of a Commander, lying in a pool of her own blood. A gaping wound was torn into her chest and she struggled for air. “A- Annie?” she sputtered, blood pouring from her mouth.

Anne panicked, looking for anything to stop the bleeding, when she realized something horrifying. Jane’s blood, coating her claws and hand and wrists and arms and- Anne turned away for a moment to be sick. _“You got your wish Anne, you have your promotion. Aren’t you so happy? Aren’t you ecstatic?”_ Cathy’s mocking voice was sickly sweet, and it seemed to haunt Anne, teasing her just at the edges of her mind. Anne felt her face involuntarily stretch into a grin. Laughter ripped from her, even as she sobbed. Cathy was kneeling behind of her, clasping her forearms and resting her chin on Anne's shoulder. Anne could feel Cathy's claws piercing into the firm muscle and Anne sobbed. No, nononono this wasn’t what she wanted. “JANE!” Anne wailed, trying to bring her cousin back through sheer force of will.

Maggie watched as the soldier who had just moments ago been so proud, break down and start screaming. Avi didn’t even seem to flinch as Anne wailed and thrashed, begging for someone to stop what they were doing. Glancing over at Joan, she wasn’t quite sure how to react as she saw the engineer just draw her mouth in a taut line and say nothing. Bessie and Maria had left a little while ago, not wanting to be in the room for the soldier’s literal torture. Finally, Anne broke the silence, and what she mumbled chilled Maggie to the bone. "Henry? Henry please, you have to understand...I didn't mean it...don't hurt me. I don't want to be erased."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well hopefully I can get the next chapter out a bit sooner than last time haha  
> Hope yall enjoyed! Drop a kudos or leave a comment below, I love hearing from yall!  
> please, the more feedback/validation I get the faster these chapter come haha


	19. Revalations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry has his own plans. Kit and Anna have their own falling out. Jane and Catalina decide to try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey yall! Got another chapter out hahah  
> I'm a bit apprehensive about this one, not sure if you guys are gonna like it or not. We'll see i guess :3  
> Warning, this chapter deals with torture, death, and some slight nsfw. Proceed with caution and stay safe.  
> if you want to avoid the torture/death, skip the italics which is just Henry's part.

_ Henry drummed his fingers on his cheekbone, watching another holographic report. He usually wasn’t one for company, but today he’d decided to allow one of his advisors to attend him. “Cromwell, you’re late.” _

_ Cromwell huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “You didn’t exactly make it easy on me.” He tossed the fist sized bag onto Henry’s lap, smirking as Henry immediately picked it up to inspect its contents. “Really Henry, what are you doing on this damned backwater planet? Earth has been crossed from Rashadi maps for a reason, there’s not much point in taking it.” Thomas sighed and sat down heavily on one of Henry’s trunks. _

_ Gently tossing the now resealed bag from hand to hand, Henry laughed gently. “Well, you may be right. There’s really no point in me being here, no are there any resources on this planet the Rashadi don’t already have, but,” Henry leaned back in his chair, “sometimes it’s less about what’s on the planet, and more of what the planet can do for me.” _

_ Humming curiously, Thomas mused, “And what can this planet do for you Henry?” _

_ “Plenty of things.” Henry stood, reopening the little bag in his hands. “It can serve as a perfect place to break my wife’s spirit, it can become another base of operations,” he crossed to stand in front of Thomas, who looked up at him with one eyebrow raised. “Now, as you know I didn’t call you here to discuss my motives, I have a bigger issue at hand.” _

_ Thomas propped his face in a hand, balancing his arm on his knee. “So? What’s this big issue?” _

_ Folding his arms over his chest, Henry sighed. “I’m sure at this point you’ve heard the news. A large force attacked a human colony, led by my newest lieutenant. And I’m sure you heard how miserably it went.” Henry’s tail lashed back and forth, a low growl building under his breath. “Boleyn’s been captured, and most of her soldiers are dead. Those who weren’t killed will have to be reeducated for their cowardice. Unfortunately, because of that stupid deal I made with Lieutenant Parr, I can’t even have Boleyn killed for her incompetence.”  _

_ “Your Majesty if I may,” Thomas intersected, “technically, since I had Lieutenant Parr removed as you requested, your deal is null and void.” _

_ Henry scoffed. “I asked you to kill Lieutenant Parr because I thought you’d be intelligent enough to be a suitable replacement. Obviously I was incorrect.” _

_ Frowning, Thomas hesitatingly asked, “Your Majesty?” _

_ Sighing, Henry clarified, “Cromwell, how long has it been since I ordered you to try and discover how Lieutenant Parr made her mind control technology?” _

_ Thomas considered it for a moment, then replied, “About four months sir, around the same time Lieutenant Parr agreed to give you the invention in exchange for her freedom and her fiancée’s safety.” _

_ Arching an eyebrow imperiously at Thomas, Henry then asked, “And have you yet discovered how it works or how to replicate it?” _

_ “...no Your Majesty.” _

_ “And that test subject, Lieutenant Cleves, have you yet figured out why she is so resistant to our attempts to use her as our example of peak prowess?” _

_ “...not yet Your Majesty.” _

_ “Then why,” Henry grabbed Thomas’s face and forced his chin up, “do I keep you around?” _

_ Thomas, for once, had no answer for his King. _

_ Henry scoffed and threw Cromwell to the ground. “I suppose I shall have to do this myself. Perhaps I’ll begin by testing just how much recall we can trigger in Lieutenant Cleves’s mind by letting that human toy with her.” He chuckled softly to himself, wondering if humans still retained their mark of cruelty, and if he could get a recording of any carnage that would ensue.  _

_ “Your Majesty? Are you dismissing me?” Thomas asked hesitantly. _

_ A loud sharp laugh startled the officer as Henry mockingly wiped a non-existent tear from his eye. “Oh Cromwell, I may be dismissing you, but not in the way you’d hope.” He shook the small bag Thomas had brought him. “You must realize what this is, don’t you?” _

_ Thomas gulped. “Yes Your Majesty, though I don’t understand what-” _

_ “Dehydroepiandrosterone. Usually passed around by athletes trying to win their competitions via cheating.” _

_ “Your Majesty, I really don’t see what this has to do with me.” Thomas tried to interject. _

_ Henry droned on, “And if an overdose occurs, it can cause heart attacks, and often death, correct?” _

_ “Yes Your Majesty.” _

_ Henry threw the bag into Cromwell’s lap, pale white powder spilling across his knees. Thomas’s eyes widened as Henry said in a monotone voice, “Alright, eat it.” _

_ Thomas choked, “Y-your Majesty?” _

_ Faster than should’ve been possible, Henry moved forwards and slammed his hand against the wall, inches from Cromwell’s head. “Did you not understand me? Eat. It.” He chuckled, making Thomas’s skin prickle, “Unless you’d rather me make this even more painful?” He dragged a claw down Thomas’s cheek, trailing along to just under his eye. “I think these will have to go first.” Henry mused. _

_ Quivering, Thomas immediately scooped up the powder and started shoveling it into his mouth. His shoulders shook and he choked as the powder coated his mouth. _

_ Henry chuckled, watching as Thomas crashed forwards onto his knees, then to the floor, clutching his throat. He kicked the officer, who sprawled across the floor. Leaning down, Henry brushed the remaining powder back into the bag, then turned away from Thomas’s body. _

_ Picking up the corpse and hefting it over a shoulder, Henry peeked out into the night. Luckily, no one seemed to be around, and Henry quickly dashed out into the dark. The dying oak leaves crunched softly under his feet and he smiled gently, reveling in the quiet sounds and smells of the forest. Henry really would miss this when he finally had to return to Homeworld, though in exchange for a firmer control of his empire, he supposed sacrifices had to be made.  _

_ Kneeling down in the soft loam, Henry began the demeaning task of upheaving the soil to make a suitable grave. Cromwell’s failure shouldn’t honestly earn him a grave, but he supposed it wouldn’t be beneficial if the humans discovered his ex-advisor’s body. Long minutes passed as Henry lost himself in the repetitive work, then he finally turned, hefted Cromwell’s body into the dirt, and began to cover it. _

_ Two hours later, there was no trace Thomas Cromwell had ever set foot on Earth, spare a small patch of disturbed soil. _

_ As Henry walked away from the impromptu burial site, he flicked open a communicator. “Lieutenant Cleves? Yes, I have a request of you. We shall be skipping your next reeducation session. Instead spend your time with the human. I want you to study her and tell me what you find.” Satisfied, he clicked close the communicator. He had a new mission to focus his energy on now. For the time, he’d thought his wife would be loyal enough to drag Lieutenant Parr back on her own, though from what he’d seen, that didn’t seem to be the case. Oh well, Henry mused to himself, if you wanted something done right, you had to do it yourself. _

Kit dropped back into her cell, clutching the small cubes in her hand close to her chest. A half baked plan that was probably not going to work was running through her head. Leaning back against the wall and sliding to the floor, Kit let the memory cubes slip through her fingers and clatter softly to the ground. She tangled her fingers in her hair, tugging at it lightly, trying to ground herself. What to do with what she’d just learned. In all honesty, Kit was feeling a little overwhelmed by it all, so there was no telling how Anna would even handle recovering the same information with the added knowledge that the memories had been stolen and rewritten. She sighed, hitting her head gently against the wall of the cell.

Echoing footsteps sounded through the hall, and Kit scrambled to stuff the glowing blue cubes away where they wouldn’t be found. To her surprise, Anna was hovering almost awkwardly at the entrance of her cell. The two of them locked eyes, and Anna's eyes widened almost imperceptibly. She opened the door to the cell, and walked inside. “Kit? I’ve been given orders to watch over you.”

Kit allowed herself a lazy, bitter smile. “Am I that much of a threat to your security that I need constant surveillance?”

Shrugging, Anna closed the door leaned against the wall. “Well, considering you busted out of here pretty easily, I suppose you could be a decent threat.” 

Opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water, Kit breathed, “How- no, why didn’t you report me?”

Anna hesitated. “I’m not sure, you’re familiar in some way, I’m not sure how, but I feel like I know you.”

Kit hummed thoughtfully, “You were kinder to me before your...reprogramming or whatever.” Anna flinched, and Kit frowned. “What? Did something happen?”

Rubbing her forearm, Anna mumbled, “The reeducation is getting less effective each time. I’m retaining more information, I’m remembering things I shouldn’t.”

Standing carefully, Kit walked over to Anna, grabbing one of her hands. Anna flinched away from her, but allowed Kit to hold her hand gently between her own. “What are you remembering?”

Anna gulped, “Bits and pieces, I-” She stopped suddenly, jerking her hand away from Kit. “Wait no, I’m supposed to be the one asking the questions here. What are you doing?”

Huffing with frustration, Kit asked, “What questions are you supposed to be asking?”

“The humans we currently have on the ship, do you know any of them?”

Kit shrugged. “Apparently they raised me. I don’t recall all of their faces or names, I stayed to myself, but I know who they are.”

Pressing onwards, Anna asked, “And could you tell us about the locations of the other colonies? Or their numbers and weaponry?”

“I don’t know about any of that, I’ve more or less buried those memories I had of living in the colonies.”

“How about supplies? Do the humans have food and weapons? Do they have any plans to attack the Rashadi in retaliation?”

Kit huffed, “I’ve been on this ship for almost a week now, how would I know any of that?” crossing her arms, she then said, “Plus, it’s not like I’d openly tell the enemy about anything truly important.”

Anna seemed dissatisfied with her answers, but Kit had nothing better to offer her. For a while the two stayed in silence. Finally, when the stifling silence became almost unbearable, Kit asked, “What can you remember?”

“Hmm?” 

“You said the reeducation was beginning to stop working, so what do you remember?” Kit asked.

Anna laughed ruefully. “Like I said, I thought I was supposed to be the one asking the questions.”

Exhaling heavily, Kit grumbled, “Look, I’m just trying to make conversation.”

Pausing for a moment, Anna finally replied, “I’m remembering bits and pieces. Moments from just before I went into the room when I met with His Majesty, and even memories from my childhood. It seems more random than anything.”

Kit’s breath caught, then she turned on Anna, grabbing at her lapels. “Do... do you remember me?”

“I- I don’t know…” Anna stammered

Kit gripped Anna’s clasped hands like a lifeline. “Please, you have to remember, we have to get out of here.” 

Pushing Kit’s hands off of her, Anna frowned. “Get out of here? Why?”

“Anna, they're just using you for their experiments! They’re treating you like a lab rat!” 

Stepping backwards, Anna edged towards the cell door. “No, I’m a valued soldier, they need me.”

Kit decided to do something incredibly stupid, and scrambled over to where the memory cubes she’d stolen were hidden. She held them out in her palm, and she could see the interest mingling with fear reflected in Anna’s eyes. “You know they’re using you, and I can show you that I’m right. You just have to trust me.”

For a moment, Anna seemed almost interested, and Kit thought she’d achieved something, when she pulled back. “Why should I trust you? You’re just a human, and our prisoner.” Anna turned and slammed a fist against the cell door, striding out. A second guard, drawn by the noise, arrived just as Kit hurriedly tucked the memory cubes away again. “Keep this one under constant watch, she’s dangerous.”

Kit narrowed her eyes. “You know I’m right,” she hissed, “you’re just too much of a coward to listen to me.” Anna didn’t reply, but her ears flicked back, letting Kit know full well that Anna had heard her. As Anna moved out of view, Kit slumped back against the wall. Why was she so attached to saving this soldier? Maybe, Kit mused, maybe it wasn’t all just for Anna’s benefit. Maybe it was just a little selfish, maybe Kit just needed the second friend she’d ever made to be okay, even if Kit herself wasn’t. 

Anna hustled away from the human’s cell. What had that human done to her. Anna was no coward, as a matter of fact she was one of the best soldiers the Rashadi had ever seen. His Majesty said so. And yet the nagging voice, the one His Majesty’s words now seemed unable to quiet, questioned whether Anna really was all that strong. She’d turned down the opportunity to attack the major human colony for reasons she couldn’t quite explain. It had just seemed...wrong. Commander Anne still hadn’t returned, which wasn’t yet anything of note, usually such attacks took longer than a day, so there wasn’t any cause for concern yet. 

Anna wandered through the ship, lingering for just a moment at the empty cell, reserved for the human commander she’d captured almost a week before. It was hard to believe only a week had passed, when it seemed like months. Feeling a strange emotion beginning to wrap around her heart, Anna moved on. She passed through the hallways, and stumbled across Cathy’s empty room. It was still left untouched on the offhand chance Lieutenant Parr did return. Anna ducked inside, feeling her heart ache at the familiar interior. The messy handwritten sketched thrown across the walls, the various inventions laying scattered across workbenches, and the bunk pushed against a wall, as if sleeping had been an afterthought. In all honesty, it probably was, considering Cathy actually did have a bunk in the barracks, even if it had been rarely used in favour of falling asleep at work so Anne had to carry her back to an actual bed. Anna closed her eyes for a moment, then left.

She wandered further, eventually reaching the closed off Commander’s quarters. Anna opened the sealed door, Anne was never clever about her passwords, and walked in. The room was much too large for any one person to stay in, and Anna wondered how Commander Seymour had ever managed it. Speaking of Commander Seymour, Anna noted Anne still hadn’t rid the room of any of Seymour’s old things. Anna carefully picked up a small stuffed toy off the bed. It was a catlike creature, with similarly plush tusks poking out of its mouth. A memory hit Anna so hard and fast she dropped the toy.  _ “Anna! Watch this!”  _ A young boy’s voice struck through her memory. Anna shook her head sharply, trying to clear it.  _ “Anna? Anna why do you do this?”  _ The boy’s voice called again, and Anna fell to her knees on the ground. “I-” she choked, “I don’t know how to do anything else.”

Catalina finally slowed after hours of walking. “We’re here.” Jane could see a small cabin framed by trees just up ahead. A chimney made of stone was up against one of the walls, and it seemed rather intact. The pair walked up to it, Catalina leading the way up the stairs, before pushing open the heavy front door. Jane noted that the interior of the cabin was rather cozy, a ladder in the corner promised a second floor, and the floor they were on had a mostly intact couch of some sort framed with logs, and a pile of old blankets in the corner. Brushing past her and setting the packs down, Lina mumbled in a low tone, “C’mon lets get that slug out of your arm.” Jane bristled at the harsh tone, but didn’t say anything, instead following Catalina inside.

Pulling her to a low table, Catalina sat Jane down and gestured for her to give Lina her arm. Somewhat petulantly, Jane complied, wincing in pain as Catalina gripped her wrist a bit too firmly. Reaching down into the pack she’d set down, Jane raised an eyebrow as Lina pulled out a metal jar filled with some sort of liquid along with a long switchblade. “You’re gonna want this when I get that slug out of your arm.” Lina muttered.

Jane reached for the tin with her free arm, flicked off the cap, and sniffed it delicately. Rearing back, Jane wrinkled her nose at the intense smell. “Eugh, what is this? It smells like disinfectant!”

Chuckling softly, Catalina replied, “Well in this case it’s gonna replace an actual disinfectant, but that in fact is moonshine.”

Blinking in surprise, Jane stared into the innocuous little tin full of clear liquid. “It’s what?”

“Moonshine, alcohol, they have to have some form of alcohol on your planet right?”

“We do, but this smells like you’d use it to strip paint rather than drink it.” Jane pointed out.

Catalina shrugged. “Honestly, you probably could. Now brace yourself.”

Jane almost asked, “for what?” when Lina pulled a clean-ish rag from the pack, dipped it in the whiskey, then began to clean Jane’s wound with it. Jane hissed in pain as the sting on the alcohol in the open wound seemed almost to burn. She bit back tears, and inhaled sharply as Lina dabbed at it. 

Looking up at Jane, Catalina slid the open jar towards Jane. “Seriously, you’re gonna want this.”

Glaring at the metal jar, Jane contemplated her life choices for a brief moment, before knocking back two deep gulps of the clear liquid. She slammed the jar back to the table and pressed her eyes tightly shut, ears pinned back against her head. “Oh that tastes  _ awful _ .” she mumbled under her breath. 

Catalina reached over and put the tin away and gently took Jane’s free hand. “You ready?”

Shaking her head rapidly to clear the fog, Jane exhaled. “Yea I think so.” 

Flicking open the knife, Catalina inspected the wound, mumbled under her breath, “there you are-” and dug the knife into the wound. Jane bit back a scream, instead lashing her tail back and forth across the floor. “Stop flexing your damn arm, I can’t see what I’m doing.” Catalina hissed through gritted teeth. For a solid moment, Jane considered slapping the human, only hesitation when she mused that slapping the person with a knife in your arm may not be a bright idea. Instead, she forcibly relaxed her arm, keening harshly as Lina worked. After what felt like an eternity, Catalina laughed in a small victory, and a dull metal bullet was dropped onto the table. “Alright, we’re gonna need to close this up.”

Jane shook her head, pain still roaring through her nerves. “No, it’ll heal on its own. Just get a bandage around it and we’ll be good.” Even as she spoke, the flesh was beginning to almost imperceptibly knit together which hurt like hell. 

Frowning, Catalina didn’t kick too much of a fuss, trusting Jane’s judgement. Instead she pulled out their last roll of bandages and began to slowly wrap it around Jane’s forearm. Her face was so close to Jane’s that Jane could just lean forwards and- she cut that train of thought off before it could get out of hand. Jane’s head was feeling incredibly fuzzy, and though she was thankful for the edge it took off the pain, she began to wonder if drinking that whiskey had been a mistake. Granted, Rashadi had rather high tolerance levels, but her head was feeling pleasantly fuzzy, a feeling she hadn’t felt since her days at the academy.

She didn’t move from her place as Catalina stood up and walked towards the door, instead choosing to quietly call, “Where are you going?”

“Out. Getting firewood.” Catalina gruffly replied.

Jane paused, before asking “Can you stay a little longer?”

The way she asked almost broke Catalina’s heart, but she shook her head firmly and guarded herself against it. “No, I don’t want to have to be here for any longer than I have to. The faster we can finish the faster we can part ways.”

Stunned into momentary silence, Jane took a moment to process, before her anger returned full force. “For fucks sake Lina, you’re tired, I’m tired, but we can be civil!” Jane stood, slamming her non-damaged hand against the wood table. “I get it, we can’t have anything more than a passing friendship but you can’t do this to me! You can’t just shut me out after everything!”

“Watch me.” Catalina almost snarled, and headed for the door.

Jane absolutely lost it.

“What the hell?” Jane practically screamed in frustration. “What is wrong with you?” She marched forward, still shivering and slightly damp from the ice-cold salt water along with the absurd amount of pain she was still in, and shoved Lina backwards. A moment of satisfaction flashed through her as Catalina stumbled back, and bumped into the wall behind her. “You spend the last couple of days teasing me and- and leading me on- and I-” Jane let out a muffled scream into her hands, which she moved up to tangle in her hair. “What are you doing? What’s your game here?” Jane tried to sound threatening, but the illusion shattered as her voice broke on the last syllables. 

Putting herself back together, Catalina stood, using her full height against Jane and forced her backwards with her presence alone. “I think we need a moment to collect ourselves.” Lina pushed past Jane, not looking at her. “There’s a fireplace where you can dry yourself and there should be some flint and steel in the pack. I’ll be back.” Before Jane could react or protest, Lina had pulled the door shut behind her. Jane quickly crossed to the pile of blankets in the corner, planted herself face first into them, and shrieked into the soft pile.

Catalina strode out, axe held loosely in her right hand. Water still dripped languidly off of her clothes and she cursed herself for not taking them off in exchange for new ones first. Angrily, she marched to a nearby tree and hefted the axe over her shoulder. With a shout, Lina slammed the blade into the tree. Chips of wood flew and she squinted her eyes against them. Wrestling the blade back out of the trunk, she slammed the blade into the cut over and over, giving a scream each time the blade bit into the tree. Lina? Teasing Jane? Lina wasn’t the one who kept finding her way into Jane’s bed, rather the entire opposite! She wasn’t the one who demanded affection constantly, wasn’t the one who was leading her on, wasn’t the one doing any of the teasing. Jane was doing all of that perfectly fine herself. 

Even worse, being accused of being cruelly distant was almost Lina’s breaking point. She’d had enough people abandon her throughout her life. It was always so much easier to be the one leaving and burning bridges, rather than the one on the opposite side of the metaphorical rivier wondering what happened. Lina walked around the tree and kicked it, the blow causing the trunk to fall over and crash onto the ground.

She began to par the branches off the tree, snarling under her breath. Catalina wasn’t the one in the wrong here, how dare Jane try and pin this on her? She hefted up the axe again and began cutting the trunk into sections. Jane was just a superficial crush to her, just someone to be infatuated with for a moment, then move on from. Jane was just going to break her heart and leave her just like everyone else, Lina knew it. And yet...Catalina couldn’t help being drawn to the woman. The way she smiled, the way she curled into Lina’s chest and relaxed, her frown dropping for the few hours of sleep, the way she gave Lina a rare smile. Catalina choked. She dropped the axe, hearing it quietly thunk into the dirt. God help her, days of trying to convince herself that Jane was just a passing fancy just wasn’t working. She dropped her face into her hands, there wasn’t a way to deny it. Catalina was in love with Jane, and with every moment that passed, she found herself wishing harder and harder for some way to keep Jane on Earth with her forever. What kind of a monster was she, wishing the person she loved to never return home?

After a moment of releasing her anger vocally, Jane pushed herself up onto her uninjured forearm. Her carefully done hair, which usually laid swept back over her ears, was now mussed and fell into her eyes. Jane snarled and pulled it all out so it laid down and loose around her face, framing it in blonde. Still not bothering to actually light a fire in the fireplace, Jane instead chose to stand and pace about the room. How DARE Catalina leave like this. Jane slammed her hand into the side of the wall and cursed as it bruised. She lifted her hand and watched in morbid curiosity as the blood vessels beneath the skin shattered, then slowly knit themselves back together. The bruise blooming and fading all within the span of minutes. 

Cradling her hand in the other, Jane pushed open the door of the cabin. Not seeing Catalina anywhere, she wandered around the vicinity of the cabin. The walls seemed to be mostly intact, some patches of soft green moss growing in the corners stood a testament to its age. There was a huge bay window, yellowed with age and aligning to the steeply angled triangular roof, that revealed a view out to the ocean cliffs along with a small deck. An iron stove stood in a corner and Jane wandered over to it. It smelled of creosote and old soot, though not as long as Jane had expected. 

Jane clambered up the ladder to the second floor, looking around. A small nook style bed was tucked into the wall,and it struck Jane that unless one of them wanted to sleep on the floor, they’d be sleeping next to each other again. Jane could feel her face begin to heat up, and she wanted to slap herself.  _ C’mon, you’ve slept in the same bed before, it’s not a big deal!  _ Jane tried to justify to herself. While that may have been true, it was always Jane going to Lina seeking comfort, or warmth, not a conscious decision to sleep together. Collapsing back onto the bed, which smelled of ancient and crumbling cotton, Jane covered her face with her hands. The thought of having to be so close to Catalina while still being upset with her wasn’t appealing, and yet… Jane couldn’t help blushing at the thought of Lina’s strong arms hugging her tight while she drifted off. Of Catalina tucking Jane’s head against her chest, not out of necessity or simply for the added body heat, but out of a sense of comfort. Of Lina’s lips pressed against her own, or maybe against her neck, or maybe against-

She sat straight up, almost knocking her head against the low ceiling. Ghosting her fingers over her lips, Jane inhaled harshly. Gods, Jane was so damn blind. Somewhere along the way, Jane had fallen head over heels in love with Catalina, and it scared her to death.

All together too soon, Jane heard the door downstairs click open, then heavily shut. She tried to calm her breathing as she registered every move Catalina made downstairs. The soft scrape of wood being dragged along the floor. A shuffle of cloth as Catalina pulled out the flint and steel. The harsh clack of the steel striking against the flint, and the soft noise of victory Catalina made. Jane stared out the window, feeling the buzz from the whiskey slowly clear from her head. The dusk was falling, night beginning to stretch slow fingers over the forest. The stars, which were so different from what she was used to. Jane was struck with a sudden and horrible feeling of melancholy, and maybe (if she dared say it) homesickness just as Catalina had guessed what felt like ages ago. She picked at the rumpled blankets, wishing that Anne was there with her watching the sun set behind the mountains back home. Wrapping her arms around her knees, Jane watched the sun dip below the tree line, horribly alone.

Catalina knelt by the fire, fully aware about the sleeping situation. She knew she could’ve kept walking and trying to find somewhere they could’ve stayed separately, but any longer staying outside in wet clothes probably would’ve given both of them a nasty cold, if not outright hypothermia. Warming her hands, Lina glanced up towards the upstairs loft, where she could just see Jane sitting on the bed, clasping tightly to her knees. The Rashadi looked so sad, Catalina was tempted to go up there and wrap her arms around Jane, to whisper that it was all going to be okay. Sighing, Catalina instead looked back into the fire. Jane was probably still upset with her. For good reason too, after the way Lina had treated her? She wouldn’t be surprised if Jane was done with her forever. 

_ Isn’t that what you wanted though?  _ A cruel voice in the back of her head offered.  _ You wanted to get over her and push her away before she could break you, and you succeeded!  _ Groaning, Catalina lay flat on the floor, hands gently resting on her abdomen. When something good would come of her ideas, they never worked. When her ideas were stupid or damaging, they of course worked. She turned her head, resting her cheek against the hardwood floor. The sun was setting, and it struck her that they’d need all the rest they could get if they were going to make it to the Ast Ria column tomorrow. Sighing, Lina got up, walking over to the pack, pulling out the still slightly damp blankets and hanging them up by the fire to dry completely. 

As she watched the last drops of water dry off the blankets, she heard footsteps behind her. Looking over a shoulder, she saw Jane padding quietly down the stairs. Turning back to the fire, she said, “There’s food in the packs.”

“Thanks.” Jane replied softly. Catalina didn’t respond, instead listening to the quiet shuffle of Jane sorting through the packs. After a while, the sounds of the movement of items turned into the soft sounds of Jane eating something, though Lina didn’t bother looking to see what. For a long time, nothing but the crackle of the fire made any noise at all, then Catalina stood and took a blanket to give to Jane. “Hmm?” Jane murmured, slightly confused.

“Here, you take the bed, I’ll stay down here.” Catalina offered.

Jane frowned. “Are you sure?”

Shrugging, Catalina pointed out, “Unless you wanna have us both squeeze into that one bed upstairs, it’s fine.” A small part of her begged for Jane to offer to share, but that part was quickly silenced as Jane accepted the blanket and walked upstairs. She turned back to the fire, took the second blanket, and curled up in front of the fire, trying to ignore the distinct lack of body heat against her chest.

Catalina was woken some hours later by the sound of footsteps. Blinking in the dim light of the remaining coals, she shifted in her sleep and noticed Jane had snuck downstairs and was tightly holding onto the tin of moonshine they’d had. For a moment, Lina considered just going back to sleep, but something stopped her. Instead, she sat up, startling Jane, and mumbled sleepily, “C'mon, I’ll join you, drinking on your own just makes things worse.” Jane looked like she wanted to argue, but instead just walked over to the table and sat down heavily, opening the jar and taking a swallow of the harsh liquor. As Catalina seated herself across from Jane, chair turned out towards the fire, Jane passed her the tin and Catalina gratefully took it.

“Are you angry with me?”

The question was asked so softly and meekly, Lina almost missed it. “What?”

Jane exhaled softly. “Are you mad at me?”

Scoffing, Lina took another sip of the whiskey. “No, I’m not mad at you. I’m just mad at myself.”

Reaching a hand out for the whiskey which Lina handed over wordlessly, Jane asked, “What do you mean?”

Catalina shrugged. “I don’t know. I suppose I just wish things were different.”

“Me too.” Jane mumbled. “I wish we’d met differently.”

Laughing softly, Catalina leaned back in her chair. “Cheers to that.”

Silence reigned for a while, though it felt distinctly more comfortable than it had been. Jane at one point sighed and recapped the alcohol, putting it away. “Do you regret it? Being my friend I mean.”

Catalina mused the question for a moment, before truthfully answering, “No. I don’t.”

“Then why push me away?” Jane asked, and Lina could see her eyes were just a bit too glossy in the firelight.

Wishing Jane hadn’t put the alcohol away, Catalina ran a hand through her hair. “You’re going to leave anyway, I may as well just speed up the process.”

Jane hissed under her breath. “It’s not like I want to leave, but I don't have much of a choice do I?” 

The anger in Jane’s voice startled Catalina and immediately put her on the defensive. “Yeah, leaving to just continue being a lap dog for your “beloved” husband. Sounds like a great thing to leave for.” she snarked.

“It’s more complicated than what you just described and you know that! I have to return to the person I love!” Jane’s voice was rising in volume, which made Lina all the more on edge. 

“He’s not good for you! Hell,  _ I’d  _ be better for you and you hate me!” Catalina exploded.

Jane’s face was flushed, whether from the whiskey or from anger, Lina couldn’t tell. “I don’t hate you, but you make it awfully hard to keep not hating you when you push me away!”

Shoving her chair back, Catalina slammed her hands on the table. “I have to protect us! You’re going to leave anyways so there’s no point in me getting attached to you! And god knows you need all the protection you can get, your arm with a literal bullet hole should be evidence of that!”

Jane stood too, matching Lina gesture for gesture. “I don’t need your goddamn protection! I can take care of myself! And what the hell do you mean no point in getting attached? We’ve crossed that bridge, no we’ve leapt over that bridge and took off running, or have you forgotten everything that’s happened?”

Catalina glared at Jane. “That doesn’t matter, it was a mistake and we both know it. Neither of us can afford to be so distracted by each other anymore!”

Jane exploded for the second time that day, angry tears pricking at her eyes. “I- You-! I can’t believe this, I would’ve left my whole life behind for you just because I fell for you so hard and fast, and you still give me this bullshit? Forget it. Forget all of it. Gods how could I have been so damn stupid as to think you might have ever loved me?” Jane choked on bitten back tears, and growled under her breath, “There’s no one left in this galaxy that loves me, you’ve made that quite clear.”

For a long moment, Catalina didn’t know how to respond. Then she breathed, “You love me?”

Jane stared at her, eyes wide in realization of what she’d just said. “I-”

“ _ Why?”  _ Catalina asked, incredulous.

Jane didn’t answer, then quietly whispered. “You’re you. Who wouldn’t love you?”

Lina could feel the beginnings of tears running down her face. “No, I am broken. Nothing but jagged edges and broken glass. I have nothing for you, I can offer you nothing you want.”

Jane swiftly cut her off by lunging forwards and grabbing Lina’s lapels, hiking a knee up onto the table, and growling, “Gods you’re so fucking stupid.” before crashing her lips against Catalina’s. Immediately, Catalina reached a hand around the back of Jane’s head, tangling her fingers through her hair. It was sloppy, it was messy, and it was everything. Catalina’s teeth clacked against Jane’s in her own haste to get closer, almost pulling Jane completely off the table in the process. Jane nipped at Lina’s lower lip, before sucking lightly on it. Catalina whimpered quietly as Jane’s canines caught on a particularly tender spot.

Unfortunately, they did eventually need to break apart to heave heavy lungfuls of oxygen, neither willing to quite leave the other’s space. Catalina just hovered there, one hand tangled in Jane’s hair, the other locked around her waist, and just let her head spin with sensations. The quiet panting between them was getting slower, and Jane looked back up from Lina’s lips, into her eyes. “Is...is this okay?” Catalina breathed.

“Yes.” Jane softly replied.

Hesitating for a moment, Catalina asked, “Are you sure?”

Jane leaned forwards, and Catalina could feel her lips brushing softly over her own as Jane spoke. “I’m sure. You don’t need to be perfect, you don’t need to be whole. All I want is you, so please, just stay.”

“Okay.” Catalina connected their lips, moving at a slower pace than they had before, enjoying the way she and Jane just seemed to fit together. Mouths sliding against each other, hands grasping at any free space on the other’s body. On a whim, Catalina tugged just a bit on Jane’s hair, and heard Jane softly moan. Emboldened by the action, she leaned forwards and picked up Jane. Jane locked her legs around Catalina’s waist, clinging to her neck as she ran her tongue along Lina’s lower lip before deepening the kiss. Catalina could feel Jane’s tongue slide smoothly against her own, the distinct taste of cherry moonshine sharp between them. Stumbling to the nook bed, Catalina felt the back of her knees hit the bed frame and she sat down heavily. Twisting her body, she laid Jane down, kneeling above her. Leaning down to press light kisses to Jane’s neck, Catalina asked again, “Is this okay?”

“More than okay.” Jane breathed, holding Lina’s shoulders tightly. Nodding, Catalina trailed kisses along the slope of Jane’s neck, then against the gentle sweep of her collar bone, before sliding a knee between Jane’s legs.

Morning seemed to come all too soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. I hope to some extent that was worth the wait  
> Sorry for keeping you waiting this long  
> Only took them like...71k words to get here  
> Also little side note, i feel like I accomplished something with what the word count is atm. idk why hahah. just thought it was neat
> 
> Hope yall enjoyed! Drop a kudos or leave a comment below, I love hearing from yall!

**Author's Note:**

> If you're wondering what hoodie Kit is wearing, it's this one https://hersheypremiumstcg.com/collections/kitkat-1/products/classic-fleece-sweatshirt-kitkat?variant=33672934546  
> Actually I own it, it was a hand me down from my cousin and its super comfy. Also, I don't live in England so I decided to set the story in a location I grew up at which is the pacific northwest coast. All of the shortened colony names are real places so if anyone wants so have the name of the beach Lina's colony is at so they can see what it looks like, I can post it.  
> I doubt I'll have an actual update schedule. I'll probably just post chapters as I write them so don't expect there to be any rhyme or reason to it. I hope you enjoyed reading this!


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